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Buy local in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais!

by Laura Byrne Paquet
by Laura Byrne Paquet Published: Updated: 10.4K views

Looking for local makers of food, clothing, beverages, books and more in and around Ottawa—perhaps so that you can avoid buying American products? Look no further!

Since starting this website in 2014, I’ve been a vocal advocate of all things local. Strangely, though, I’ve never put together a general guide to local makers, artisans and producers to help readers keep their hard-earned dollars in our communities…until now.

The list below is just a starting point—I will keep adding to it as time allows. If you know of a business in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario or the Outaouais that fits these parameters (they make products or they primarily sell products by local companies), please let me know.

And if you are one of the businesses mentioned and have a photo of your store and/or products, please contact me—I’d love to use one!

woman looking at bottles and jars of food on wooden shelves
Wendy’s Country Market in Lyndhurst stocks food from more than 60 local producers.

Note that I’m not including restaurants, bakeries and similar services on this list at this time—wonderful as they are. Nor am I including wholesalers who don’t sell to the general public. Perhaps in the future I can write separate posts for those. But for now, I don’t want this list to get too unwieldy.

Shopping local helps support creators, entrepreneurs and our communities. It also helps keep our region and our country more resilient. Plus, you’ll discover some really cool products that you probably can’t find from giant international retailers. We all win!

Table of contents

Alcoholic beverages

Beer

glass of beer on a wooden table overlooking a harbour.
Enjoying the patio at the Westport Brewing Company.

Here are just a few of the many, many local craft breweries you can check out.

Cider

Liquor/spirits

bottles of gin in a wooden cabinet
Gin at Distillerie du Square in Chelsea.

Wine

closeup of four bottles of wine from little red wagon winery
Wine at Little Red Winery in Shawville.

Artists and artisans

I started making a list of local artists and artisans and quickly realized that the task was more than I—or probably anyone!—could reasonably take on. So, instead, I’ll point you to these pages, which list lots and lots of local creators working in just about any medium you can imagine.

For art and craft galleries, see the please see the “Shops that stock local products” section of this post.

Bath, body and beauty products

garden path homemade soap vankleek hill
Garden Path Homemade Soap in Vankleek Hill.

Books

For bookstores, see the please see the “Shops that stock local products” section.

Clothing and accessories

Flowers

Food

This section lists individual producers. Savour East Ontario can help you find producers in Prescott-Russell, Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry, Cornwall, and the Ontario part of Akwesasne. For grocery stores, butchers and other stores that sell products from multiple producers, please see the “Shops that stock local products” section.

Baking ingredients and spices

Beverages (non-alcoholic)

Candy and chocolate

Coffee

closeup of someone pouring cream into a small white cup of coffee

Condiments, oils, jams, sweeteners, syrups and sauces

closeup of small jars of mustard
Mmmm….Mrs. McGarrigle’s Merrickville mustards. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.

Dairy products

shopper at a cashier next to a large refrigerated cabinet of cheese
Glengarry Fine Cheese in Lancaster.

Eggs

Meat

Produce

Look for the Foodland Ontario logo in stores to find Ontario-grown produce.

Snacks and miscellaneous

Tea

Housewares and home decor

Jewellery

black and gold storefront of sugold jewellers

Shops that stock local products

Most of these stores stock items from elsewhere in Canada, but they make a concerted effort to source and sell items made in Ottawa, the Outaouais and Eastern Ontario. Ask—they can usually tell you more about the producers. (P.S.: Your local farmers’ market is also an excellent source of hyper-local produce, meat, crafts and more.)

Art and handmade items

Books

Clothing and accessories

Food

Multiple categories/Other

Companies that promote local products

Tour and itinerary companies

In this section, I’ve included some local tour companies that run trips or create itineraries that introduce clients to local businesses.

General “shop Canadian” sites

These websites list Canadian producers and products.

And, finally, a note about definitions

I’m the furthest thing from a legal expert you could possibly find, and reading the government regulations defining “Made in Canada” vs. “Product of Canada” labels honestly made my eyes glaze over. So I’m suggesting the links below if you want to determine how “Canadian” or “local” a product is.

These pages, for instance, explain a few of the logos used to identify products with significant Canadian content.

The field is quite complex, as a product can be largely Canadian without being totally so. For instance, what if a cookie is made in Canada with Canadian flour, eggs and sugar, but the vanilla and cinnamon (which we can’t grow here) are imported? What if the packaging was made somewhere else? See, it’s complicated.

Here are a few recent articles that may help you navigate the waters of Canadian content regulations.

I’ll just add my unsolicited two cents here to throw in the timeworn but useful cliché that “perfect is the enemy of good.” If you want to make sure that every single thing you buy or use is 100 percent Canadian or local, you’re almost certainly doomed to failure or insanity. But if you focus on buying from local companies, checking labels and asking questions, you’ll be helping local communities to at least some degree. Just keep on trying, folks! That’s all we can do.

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.

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6 comments

Jocelyn Davey February 4, 2025 - 7:39 pm

Dalmeny Acres too!
Amazing source for great local finds! Found it’s a great one-stop shop (and so informative!)

Reply
Laura Byrne Paquet February 6, 2025 - 11:04 am

Thanks for the tip–I’ll add it!

Reply
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Abbie February 8, 2025 - 1:35 am

Russ Paquette is an amazing Ottawa-based artist!
https://www.russpaquette.com/

Reply
Laura Byrne Paquet February 10, 2025 - 4:36 pm

Thanks, Abbie! I quickly realized that listing all the local artists and makers individually–or even close to all of them!–would take more time and space than I have. So I’ve decided instead to list galleries and associations of artists.

Reply
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