A Familiar Message, A New Reality
We’ve written about the importance of shopping local before — during the depths of the pandemic, and again last year when tariff threats first started rattling our trade relationship with the United States. I wish I could say this year’s message is any different. It isn’t. If anything, it’s more urgent.
As of late August 2026, the U.S. has imposed a 50% tariff on a wide swath of Canadian goods — everything from lumber and dairy to cable, jewelry, and honey. Canada has responded in kind, matching those tariffs dollar for dollar on American imports, with new countermeasures taking effect September 8. Ottawa has also rolled out a $7.5 billion support package for affected workers and businesses, on top of the nearly $25 billion already committed over the past year and a half. These aren’t abstract policy headlines. They’re real pressure on the small operators who make up the backbone of our communities — the ones without a marketing department or a legal team to help them navigate it.
Why It Still Comes Down to Us
The math hasn’t changed since we first shared it: every dollar spent at a small business keeps roughly 66 cents circulating in the local economy, compared to just 11 cents when spent at a multinational chain. That difference shows up in the wages of your neighbours, the sponsorship of the local minor hockey team, the lights staying on at the shop down the street through a slow shoulder season.
What has changed is how exposed some of these businesses now are. A one-person jewelry studio in Calgary, a paper goods shop in a small town, a maker who built a business shipping across the border — many relied on American customers to stay afloat, and that market is suddenly a lot more expensive to reach. For a lot of small Canadian businesses, the only real cushion left is us.
Beyond the Storefront
Supporting local doesn’t stop at where you buy your groceries or your gear. It’s also about supporting the people building things here in the first place. A few years back, we highlighted KORE, the Kootenay-based initiative working to grow BC’s own outdoor gear manufacturing sector — ski shapers, apparel designers, trailer builders, all quietly proving that “made here” is more than a nice idea. That kind of homegrown production matters even more now. Every product built, sewn, or assembled in this country is one less shipment exposed to a tariff line, and one more paycheque staying close to home.
The same logic applies to the businesses connected to backcountry travel and adventure tourism across BC — the outfitters, guides, gear shops, and lodges that depend on a strong local economy around them. When our neighbours’ businesses struggle, it ripples outward to all of us.
What You Can Actually Do
None of this requires grand gestures:
- Buy direct where you can. Booking accommodation or ordering food through the business itself, rather than a third-party app, keeps more of your money local — those platforms always take a cut.
- Look for “Made in Canada” before you check out. It’s a small habit that adds up across thousands of purchases.
- Shop small even when it’s less convenient. Curbside pickup, direct shipping, and phone orders exist at most small businesses now — use them.
- Talk about it. Tell people when you’ve found a good local maker or supplier. Word of mouth is still a small business’s best marketing budget.
A Pledge Worth Repeating
“Shop local Canada” has been said so many times it risks sounding like a slogan. It isn’t one. It’s a decision, made one purchase at a time, about whether our communities keep their character — and their livelihoods — through a period of real economic pressure. We’ve stood behind that decision before. We’re asking you to stand behind it again.
Brad Harrison
Executive Director, Backcountry Lodges of BC Association