‘Tis the season for holiday shopping. But are Canadian products on the

Despite recent data suggesting the Buy Canadian movement is losing steam, some business owners are hopeful the boom they’ve been seeing will continue through Black Friday sales and throughout the holiday shopping season.

The movement took off earlier this year after consumers switched to Canadian-made products in an effort to boycott the United States following a trade war and threats of annexation from president Donald Trump. 

But since its peak, recent data suggests the trend has fallen off.

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Statistics Canada’s latest report found that nearly 70 per cent of businesses “did not experience an increase in sales of their Canadian products” over the past six months. Only about 13 per cent of businesses said they had seen an increase, whereas the remainder weren’t sure. 

Experts say inflation and the removal of some of Canada’s counter tariffs on U.S. products have made the items less expensive and may mean consumers are returning to old habits. 

A recent Bank of Canada survey also found that most people said they weren’t willing to pay more than an additional 10 per cent for a Canadian-made product. 

“There seems to be a long-lasting shift in the general public towards prioritizing Canadian goods and services,” said François Neville, a strategic management professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business. 

“Whereas that sentiment was probably at its height shortly after the initial wave of tariffs from the Trump administration, it certainly seems to have waned a little bit.” 

Unless more divisive comments come out of the White House over the next few weeks, Neville says he’s uncertain whether Buy Canadian will take priority this holiday season. 

“If we think of the types of gifts that are being purchased over the holiday season, oftentimes these are the types of products that are not necessarily manufactured in Canada,” he said, referring to toys that are usually made in China. 

Some businesses say boom is still on

Despite the reported softening of the Buy Canadian sentiment, some businesses say they’ve seen steady support throughout the year. 

Clothing retail owner Julie Brown says that in every month since January her business, Province of Canada, has nearly doubled its sales compared to last year.

To keep up with the demand, she said they’ve had to almost double their warehouse and office staff. 

“We are seeing…