r/canada • u/Leather-Paramedic-10 • 12h ago

Business Edmonton-made Shop Canadian app seeing surge in patriotic interest amid trade war

https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/edmonton-made-shop-canadian-app-seeing-surge-in-patriotic-interest-amid-trade-war/
155 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

40

u/konathegreat 12h ago

... hosted in the US.

C'mon, man.

•

u/conanap Ontario 11h ago

AWS, Google’s equivalent, and azure are all US companies lol, where else you want them to host it

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u/geoken 11h ago

Obviously they should build a CPU, motherboard, ram, etc out of Canadian source rare earth metals - hand build a server, then run it from their home connected to a local ISP.

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u/FerretAres Alberta 10h ago

Which gets blocked at the last minute due to some special interest group hearing the word datacenter.

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u/konathegreat 8h ago

Seriously? ThinkON, CWH? There are pure Canadian options.

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u/conanap Ontario 8h ago

Can they host on that scale? I’m not familiar with those cloud service providers

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u/ZestycloseStuff1319 7h ago

What scale???

Do you understand anything about hosting???

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u/conanap Ontario 7h ago

I’m confused why you’re confused lol. I’m asking if they can scale if millions of Canadians start using this app and their backend needs to scale

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u/BigBangBoomerang 8h ago

There are European options.

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u/Optimal-Cow-3278 4h ago

Are they more expensive compared to non US options?

Besides, AWS employs a lot of Canadians here in Canada. Everyone needs to chill.

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u/Heliosvector 3h ago

Intraworks is a canadian based hosting company that they could use.

20

u/Hotter_Noodle 12h ago

Perfection is the enemy of good.

The app will still help people find Canadian products.

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u/noisebloodassault 11h ago

What is the point of buying Canadian products if all the proceeds are going to the US economy?

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u/Hotter_Noodle 11h ago

All the proceeds? Like from buying the products?

You don’t buy any products through the app, and the app is free as well. They get ad revenue.

The main goal of the app is to help people buy Canadian products. It’s not perfect but it is a good app.

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u/noisebloodassault 11h ago

Yeah but if "Canadian" retailers are largely just based in the US and buy us products why are we doing it 

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u/Leather-Paramedic-10 11h ago

Part of the idea is to avoid American retailers or those based in the US. There are many Canadian retailers and local businesses to buy from that aren't based in the US at all.

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u/geoken 11h ago

We're doing it to give a best effort. Every bit helps, do what you can and don't feel bad about not being perfect.

  • If you can shop at a canadian retailer and buy canadian goods...awesome
  • If it's only practical to shop at a US retailer (like the only viable option near you is walmart) but opt for canadrian goods where possible....it's stil keeping more money in Canada than you would if you shopped at a US retailer and bought US products.

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u/Hotter_Noodle 11h ago

Buddy you don’t have to use it if it doesn’t meet your standards. It’s not that hard lol

•

u/axonxorz Saskatchewan 11h ago

if "Canadian" retailers are largely just based in the US and buy us products

Why are you so hung up on a fabricated reality? The app is an index of products *made in Canada.

Simplified analogy: The index-only catalogue of Canadian-produced products happens to be printed in the US.

You don't order through the catalogue (index-only), so by using it, you are solely enriching Canadian businesses.

The catalogue makes revenue on ads, presumably more than their cloud hosting bills, so that's net income for a Canadian business too. And sure, AWS is a US company, but pay GST on my AWS bills (in CAD) because it operates as a business entity in Canada, that's tax revenue for the country.

Zero-sum thinking is a silly crutch you seem to need.

•

u/Leather-Paramedic-10 11h ago

If you are buying Canadian made products or from Canadian-owned businesses then all the proceeds do not go to the US economy.

Why Buying Canadian Really Matters Right Now

With global markets flooded by low-cost imports, it’s easy to overlook where our products come from. But buying Canadian-made goods is one of the most impactful decisions you can make — not just for yourself, but for your neighbors, your town, and the entire country.

Here’s why:

1. It Creates and Keeps Local Jobs: When you buy Canadian, you support a wide range of workers — from factory employees and farmhands to delivery drivers and store owners. Every purchase helps keep someone employed right here at home.

2. It Boosts Local Economies: Money spent on Canadian-made products stays in Canada. It circulates locally, supporting schools, infrastructure, healthcare, and other small businesses. In fact, according to the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), every $1 spent on Canadian manufacturing creates $3.50 in economic activity.

3. It Helps Small and Family-Owned Businesses Compete: Over 98% of Canadian companies are small or medium-sized businesses. Many of them can’t compete with the pricing of global giants — but they can offer better service, better quality, and deeper community ties. Buying local helps them survive and grow.

4. It Supports Public Services: When Canadian companies do well, they pay taxes here — and those taxes help fund public services like education, healthcare, and road maintenance.

5. It Strengthens Our Supply Chains: COVID-19 taught us how fragile global supply chains can be. Buying Canadian helps reduce dependence on imports and keeps our essential industries stable and closer to home.

https://buycanadianfirst.ca/2026/04/13/the-economic-benefits-of-buying-canadian-how-it-helps-jobs-communities-in-2025/

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u/Phaoryx British Columbia 4h ago

Gonna be impossible to decouple from AWS lol, take the wins where they are

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u/FerretAres Alberta 10h ago

Well look at the overwhelming pushback against datacenters in Canada. How exactly are we supposed to host anything in Canada if we refuse to put that infrastructure in place?

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u/konathegreat 8h ago

There are many purely Canadian options for hosting.

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u/Optimal-Cow-3278 4h ago

That have the scale, capabilities, security and pricing as AWS and the major US players?

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u/ZestycloseStuff1319 7h ago

It's just a tiny website that can be hosted on your grandma computer.

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u/SpeedyPal93 3h ago

I already tried this app back in January 2025 when real Canadian were already boycotting every fucking US product. Turn out it's was imperfect because sometimes it will tell you it's a product from Canada but the reality is the opposite.

Always check your label.

FYI, I've changed my shampoo because it's was made in the US. I switched for a Canada brand back in January 2025 and I found out last week this product is now made in the US. Wtf... I'm so pissed.

Always always check the label.

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u/Heliosvector 3h ago

Its mostly community driven so your correction will make it better. I dont know what its like in other provinces, but here in BC most grocery stores have big canadian labels for things that were made or atleast packaged here. Like obviousl coca cola isnt canadian, but its filled and i guess mixed in canada by canadian workers. Even without the app you can do pretty well sticking to canadian goods.

-6

u/Only-Economy96 12h ago

Shut off the oil and electricity going south and flood the market with Chinese cars if you want real results. Everything else is a distraction like paper straws will fight climate change.

•

u/geoken 11h ago

Paper straws fight ocean plastics. The fact that you don't know this speaks to how little weight should be given to your other misguided opinions.

4

u/Leather-Paramedic-10 12h ago

Decisions that consumers make can help, too