Our Speakers Corner spotlight takes us to Toronto’s Roncesvalles Village where businesses are making a statement in response to ongoing tariff battles with the U.S.“Made in Canada, Found on Roncy” is the name of a new campaign launched by the Roncy village B.I.A. which represents more than 200 businesses along Roncesvalles Avenue between Queen and Dundas. The idea behind it is to showcase a recent push by many of the businesses in the area to stock and sell Canadian made products.“And the response from these businesses has been tremendous,” said Adam Langley, Chair of the B.I.A. “We even have businesses that maybe their theme isn’t surrounding Canadian products but they’ve shifted to start carrying Canadian products as much as they can.”One of those businesses is Browdaka and Friends, an eclectic gift store, co-owned by Cayla Hache.“For us, we started to look at the Canadian brands we already had and we looked for ways to add more,” she told us. “One of the things impacted by the tariffs was candles so we started stocking candles made in Montreal instead of the brand we were carrying.”Langley says many other Roncy businesses have also been going above and beyond to source out products made at home. “It does mean a little bit of extra time and extra labour to make those choices but many have had success.”Hache says the tariff battle has helped her discover that Canada produces more items than she realized.“We do actually produce quite a bit and for what we sell it hasn’t been so much of a hurdle and we can still find what we need.”Storefronts throughout the village are marked with signs boasting Canadian goods. The street is also lined with ads promoting the new campaign — with that tag line: ‘Found on Roncy.’“Found on Roncy, being that you can find these made in Canada things at a local shop, you don’t have to go to Amazon or a big retailer,” Langley said.Businesses along the Roncy strip are far from alone as more and more store owners across the country look to source Canadian made products — a movement fueled by a growing number of customers, aware of the current climate, who are seeking them out. Langley and other business owners say the one good thing coming out of this is it has shifted the mindset of business owners.“I don’t think this is going away,” he said. “If we get news tomorrow that everything is back to 2024 standards why wouldn’t we still support Canadians? Why wouldn’t I still buy from someone in Saskatchewan, Ontario or British Columbia instead of buying from someone in the U.S.?”Business owners like Hache agree. While she admits not all products can be found at home, she’s constantly trying to fill her store with Canadian made goods.“The goal? We would love to have all Canadian brands, that would be incredible and I think there’s going to be more development here and it’s doable. I think this movement is only going to build, not go away.”If you have an issue, story or question you’d like us to look into, contact us here.