During many of my talks I’m chastised for not promoting Canadian manufacturers. As I have said many times if I find a product that’s made in Canada while I’m shopping in the US is it usually priced lower in the US than back at home. I’m not talking booze, which is basically a no-brainer based on our ridiculous taxes and Provincial liquor markups, but everyday items. I often use Hall’s cough drops as a prime example, made in Montreal and as reported on CBC Marketplace, nearly a $1.50 less in the US than in Canada.
There is a big push on to Shop Local, an initiative of Yellow Pages Group (YPG). I reiterate it’s not the local retailers fault that consumer prices are so much higher than for the same product it’s the prices set by manufacturers, importers and other in the distribution chain. The fault with the retailers is that they don’t lobby enough to get their costs of goods on a par with their US competition. They have spent 5 years complaining about the charges they pay in credit card fees, like the extra half a point is going to boost their business model substantially! Get you cost of goods down by 10 or 15 percent and your business will increase enough to offset your cc fees.
So as a Public Service to my fellow Canadians I have found a website that will let you know what products are manufactured in Canada so you can do your on-line comparisons and then decide where to spend your hard earned cash. So if your in the market for farm machinery, bicycles, pipe organs, helicopters or Professor Noggin’s History of Art check out http://www.productfrom.com/country/
Oh and yes there are a number of automobiles, trucks, snowmobiles, trailers and more that are made in Canada but the manufacturer wont let you buy these in the US because you are ok paying upwards of 20% more for them in Canada.
