What Does Made in Canada Really Mean?
Current product labelling practices are making things difficult for Canadian shoppers. “Made in Canada”, “Roasted in Canada”, “Designed in Canada”, “Price Tag Applied in Canada”? Okay, I made the last one up, but really, how are we to understand what it means for a product to be Canadian? The different terms flying around are confusing and it seems there are producers who intentionally mislead consumers in the hope of making a sale.
Some retailers are also complicit. One grocery chain placed bright red “Prepared in Canada” labels by a whole range of products that don’t necessarily meet government criteria for “Made in Canada” food product labelling. Many of these products belong to the house brand owned by the grocer. The retailer isn’t breaking the law as there’s no regulation around using the phrase, “Prepared in Canada”, but the words can mean anything; and nothing. That’s not helpful for consumers who want to support Canadian producers.
Demystifying “Made in Canada”
Some well-meaning websites try to help by evaluating products on a scale of “Canadianess”, but it’s a judgment call made by the author, the users, or some AI behind the curtains. If a company claims to produce Canadian products and wraps their offerings in red, white, and maple, they may get four stars. That’s not so helpful.
There is however, some guidance for food products from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). A product is:
- Product of Canada
- Made in Canada
- Or it’s mostly made somewhere else
What then, is “Made in Canada”?
Follow the Money
By “made”, we’re talking about how much of the cost of producing the product was spent in Canada. Let’s break it down…
Made in Canada: At least 51% of the direct costs of the last substantive transformation of the product occurred in Canada. The statement will usually have a qualifier such as, “Made in Canada from imported ingredients”.
Product of Canada: Similar to Made in Canada, but the threshold is much higher. At least 98% of the cost to create the product must have been spent in Canada. From here on, we’ll use “Made in Canada” to refer to both of these categories.
Made somewhere else: The product may have been bottled, processed, or prepared in Canada, but doesn’t meet the Made in Canada criteria above. Because the majority of the cost of preparing the product occurs outside Canada, we don’t consider it to be a Canadian product (though it may have some Canadian value).
Note that manufacturers are not required to put “Made in Canada” on the label, even if the product qualifies.
But What About…?
What about a company that partially produces their products in Canada, employing Canadian workers or purchasing ingredients from Canadian farms? Shouldn’t we consider their products to be Canadian?
Let’s use Coca-Cola® as a case study. This American brand makes popular beverages sold across Canada. You’ll sometimes see their products tagged as “Made in Canada” on grocers’ shelves. Pick up a bright red can of Coke® and you may see a coke.ca website address, a physical address in Canada, and a “Bottled in Canada” statement alongside a maple leaf symbol.
According to their website, Coca-Cola is “Made by Canadians, For Canadians”. The company states that in partnership with Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited, they employ 6,400 Canadians at 50 sales and distribution centres and seven manufacturing facilities across the country. But are their products made in Canada according to the labelling standard defined above? Would they be allowed by the government to put “Made in Canada” on those products?
Companies making products that don’t meet the criteria for Made in Canada could be doing better. If 51% or more of the cost of producing their products was spent here, it would benefit the Canadian economy more than it does now. They could be employing more Canadian workers than they currently do.
Many companies can spend more of the cost of producing their products here in Canada, but choose not to. The majority of their spending benefits other economies. So let’s call it like it is. Those products are not Canadian products.
How to Identify Canadian Food Products
| label Example | Is it “Made in Canada”? |
|---|---|
| “Product of Canada” | Yes, product of Canada. |
| “100% Canadian” | |
| “Made in Canada” | Yes, made in Canada. |
| “Made in Canada from…”, etc. | |
| VQA | Yes, product of Canada. Vintners Quality Alliance indicates a wine made from grapes grown in Ontario or British Columbia. |
| "Wines of Distinction" | Yes, product of Canada. Wine made from grapes grown in British Columbia. |
| "Wines of Nova Scotia" | Yes, product of Canada. Wine made from grapes grown in Nova Scotia. |
| "Vins du Québec" | Yes, product of Canada. Wine made from grapes grown in Quebec. |
 Egg Farmers of Canada | Yes, product of Canada. |
 Egg Quality Assurance | Yes, product of Canada. |
 Foodland Ontario | Yes, made in Canada or product of Canada. |
| “Product of U.S.A.” | It’s not made in Canada. Note that only some products are required to indicate country of origin. They include dairy products, eggs, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, maple and honey products, meat, wine, brandy, and some processed fruits and vegetables. |
| “Product of Russia”, etc. | |
| “Imported by…” | It’s not made in Canada. |
| “Prepared for…” | It’s most likely not made in Canada. |
| “Bottled in Canada” | The product is not necessarily “Made in Canada”. The words describe some Canadian value, but the product may not meet Made in Canada (51%) criteria. The producer is allowed to display a maple leaf on the label. |
| “Canned in Canada” | |
| “Distilled in Canada” | |
| “Prepared in Canada” | |
| “Packaged in Canada” | |
| “Roasted in Canada” | |
 “Canadian Grade A”“Canada Fancy” “Canada No. 1”, etc. | The product may not be from Canada. The symbols indicate Canadian food grades that establish product quality requirements. It does not indicate product origin. |
 Canada Organic logo | The product may not be from Canada. The symbol indicates the product meets Canada's organic standards for being labelled as an organic product. It does not indicate product origin. |
 Inspection legend | The product may not be from Canada. This mark indicates the product was made in accordance with the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. It does not indicate product origin. |
Canadian Food Inspection Agency links:
How to identify Canadian food
Report a food complaint or concern