How we list

We list makers from public sources; owners can claim their listing. Here is exactly what that means, so you can judge a listing for yourself.

Where listings come from

Two ways. We find makers by searching for products on the tariff list together with Canadian signals (province names, .ca domains, “made in Canada”) and impact signals, like a banner that says tariff and duty on US orders are included in shipping, or a note that US shipping is paused. We also read news coverage. Or a maker applies. Either way a listing is drafted from what the maker’s own site and the sources say, and a person reviews it before it goes live.

What “small” means here

Independent, Canadian-owned, fewer than 50 people, and not a subsidiary of a publicly traded company. We apply this the same way to every listing. Where the size is not public we say “not stated” rather than guess. A business that grows past 50 stays listed if it was small when the tariff hit; we note the change.

What we check

• That the business is based in Canada, from its own site or a news source.
• That at least one product it sells matches a line on the US Section 338 list. We only assign an HTS code when the maker’s own product description matches the line, and we quote that description.
• That there is a source for the impact line: the maker’s own site, a news story, or an owner statement. The source and its date are shown on the card.
• That the shop link works. We re-check every listing monthly and show the date.

What we do not check

• Ownership records. We do not pull corporate registries for every listing.
• Whether a product qualifies as “Product of Canada” or “Made in Canada” under Competition Bureau guidance. We repeat what the maker says and link to it.
• Sales figures, employee counts or the size of the loss, beyond what the source states.
• Quality of the goods or the shop. We are a directory, not a review site.

That is why we never use certification language about a listing. A listing is what public sources say, shown with its sources, and the owner can correct it.

What the statuses mean

Community-listed

Drafted from public sources and reviewed by a volunteer. The owner has not yet claimed it.

Owner-claimed

The owner has confirmed the listing by email, using a matching domain, the published contact email, or a token on their site. They can edit it and add a dated statement, shown verbatim.

Removed

Taken down at the business’s request or because the shop closed. Logged below.

Listings still in review are not shown publicly. For the first fifty listings every draft goes through a person before it is published.

Claims and edits

A claim is accepted automatically when the email domain matches the shop domain, when the email matches the contact address found on the shop at discovery, or when the owner places a one-line token on their site. Everything else is read by a person. Owners can edit description, products, impact statement and photos, and sign a dated attestation that they are Canadian-owned and independent.

If the tariffs end

If a line is removed or the measure is struck down, the listing wording changes from “hit by” to “was hit by” and the maker stays listed. The tariff line itself is marked retired with a date.

Removals log

Removal requests are honoured within 48 hours and recorded here. Emails are never shown.