Discover more of Canada, one great find at a time.
This week, we’re getting a little dirt on our shirts and a little fancy with our toast. Add some curious pottery, cuddly creations and our very first Canadian Artist Spotlight, and you’ve got four small businesses and one talented photographer worth getting to know. Let’s take a look. 🇨🇦
Which Canadian animal would make the worst neighbour?
LAST WEEK’S VERDICT
What’s the hardest part of shopping Canadian?
70.4% — Figuring out what’s actually Canadian
14.8% — Finding a Canadian alternative I like as much
10.4% — Making it work with my budget
4.4% — Knowing where to start looking
Three Canadian claims. Two are true. One is completely made up.
A. Churchill, Manitoba, has a “jail” for polar bears.
B. Québec has a strategic reserve of maple syrup.
C. Hawaiian pizza was invented in Vancouver.
Which one are you calling nonsense on? Answer at the bottom of the newsletter. No Googling, eh? 😉
Products, businesses, people and places that deserve a little more attention.
A LITTLE DIRT NEVER HURT · PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
P.E.I Dirt Shirt
Most people try to get dirt out of their shirts. This Island business puts it in.
Since 1997, this family-owned business has been turning PEI’s famous red soil into wearable souvenirs.
Cotton shirts are coloured using a mixture of Island dirt, well water and a few additional ingredients that help the colour hold. After washing and drying, they emerge with that unmistakable earthy hue.
Taking a little piece of the Island home? Quite literally.
SPREAD A LITTLE PERSONALITY · BRITISH COLUMBIA
East Van Jam
Your toast is about to meet some interesting characters.
Founded by Natalie Ferrari-Morton in 2013, East Van Jam gives its spreads names and flavours worth lingering over.
Duchess of Strawberry pairs Fraser Valley strawberries with rose water. Blackberry Jack brings together BC blackberries, lime and orange blossom water. And Baron Von Blueberry adds allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon to the breakfast table.
Spread them on a warm scone, spoon them over yogurt or introduce them to your next cheese board.
A SWEATER’S SECOND CHAPTER · QUÉBEC
Ouistitine
An old cashmere sweater became the beginning of something lovely.
When Camille wanted a special stuffed animal for her daughter, she enlisted her mother, Sylvie. Together, they made a little monkey from a sweater that had belonged to Camille’s grandmother.
That first companion became the starting point for Ouistitine, a small Montréal business creating stuffed animals, dolls and puppets from reclaimed natural materials.
Their simple little faces leave plenty of room for a child’s imagination. Choosing a favourite might be the harder part.
SOMETHING’S BREWING · ONTARIO
Handmade Curiosities
Some mornings, even your mug looks like it needs a coffee.
Meet Horrible Pumpkin Boy, a ceramic character with droopy eyes and a decidedly mischievous grin.
He belongs to the curious world of Herman and Bera, the makers behind Handmade Curiosities. Their collection ranges from playful pottery to elaborate monster tumblers, bringing their love of strange characters and spooky stories into everyday objects.
With Halloween approaching, this feels like a particularly good time to open their studio’s cabinet of curiosities.
OLD BONES PHOTOGRAPHY · NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR
Some photographs make you wish you could step right into them.
For our first artist spotlight, meet Cory Babstock, the photographer behind Old Bones Photography in Shoal Harbour, Newfoundland.
After a life-altering injury, Cory returned to photography with a renewed appreciation for the details we often walk past. His work explores Newfoundland’s coastlines, quiet communities and wildlife, finding something worth stopping for in familiar places.
Take a little tour through his lens. You might even find a piece of Newfoundland to bring home.
Who should we spotlight next? 🎨
Know a Canadian artist, photographer or musician more people should discover? Reply to this email with their name and a link to their work. Self-nominations welcome!
KNOW A CANADIAN BUSINESS WE SHOULD DISCOVER?
Is there a Canadian business, product, founder or place that more people should know about? Send us your recommendation and tell us what makes it worth discovering.
Your suggestion could be featured in an upcoming edition of More Canada Please.
🇨🇦 DID YOU SPOT THE CANADIAN LIE?
C is the lie! Hawaiian pizza was invented in Chatham, Ontario, where Sam Panopoulos put pineapple on pizza in 1962.
Churchill really does have a Polar Bear Holding Facility, nicknamed the “polar bear jail.” And Québec’s maple syrup producers maintain a strategic reserve to help keep supplies steady between harvests.
Polar bear jail. Backup syrup. Pineapple pizza. We’re quite a country. 🇨🇦
HOW DID WE DO?!
Thanks for making a little room for Canada in your inbox. Behind every find this week is someone putting their creativity out into the world. A follow, a kind message or a purchase can be a lovely way to encourage them.
Know someone who’d enjoy these discoveries? Forward this issue and invite them along.
See you next week!
Dan
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