Join the 1Y1C Research Brigade

As my year of Canadian immersion comes to a close, I’ve realized that there’s a ton of research I’ve left undone. I simply haven’t had the time this year to assess the Canadianness of a bunch of non-essential categories or sub-categories. For example, I happily had no need for a rifle or shotgun in 2011, so I never got around to determining if there were any made in Canada.

Over the year, I’ve received offers from a few people who volunteered to help with researching the project. It occurred to me that I might be able to crowdsource some of these research challenges. Hence, I’ve created the research brigade.

If you’re a fan of the project, or are just looking for some way to avoid your relatives for 45 minutes or an hour this holiday season, here’s your chance. I’m looking for volunteer researchers to pick a topic and then use their Google kung-fu to determine whether such a product is sourced or manufactured in Canada. Here’s how it would work:

  1. Pick a topic from the list below.
  2. Do online research (or make phone calls, if you’re feeling really eager) to determine if the product is sourced or manufactured in Canada.
  3. Complete the form below with your results (or just email me at darren@1y1c.ca). You can just include notes and links. If you’re keen to write something fully-formed, I might even feature it as a guest blog post in the new year.

Make sense? If there are a lot of examples of Canadian sources or manufacturers, try to pick the most popular ones. It’s quite possible that you’ll discover that there are, in fact, no Canadian-made products for a given topic. That’s okay, too.

What do you get? My undying thanks, of course. Also, if I end up writing a book about the project, I’ll send five randomly selected brigade members a signed copy. We may end up with less than five volunteers, so your odds of gotten a book are good.

Here are the topics. Again, we’re searching for the answer to the question: “Are there any of these products made in Canada?”

  1. Eyeglasses (including sunglasses)
  2. Rifles and shotguns
  3. Common manual tools like screwdrivers and hammers
  4. Tents (for camping)
  5. Motorcycles and scooters
  6. Razors (manual or electric)
  7. Hockey pucks
  8. Common sports equipment like soccer balls, footballs or baseballs
  9. Skates
  10. Pens and pencils
  11. Common school supplies like rules, erasers and felt tip markers
  12. Condoms
  13. Cutlery
  14. Musical instruments
  15. Anything else?

As #15 suggests, if there’s a topic that I haven’t covered that you’re curious about, feel free to dive in. Or you can leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list.

Once you’ve done your research, just fill out the form below. My sincere thanks to anybody who participates!

Photo courtesy of Jenn Calder.



  1. Joan Downing (Reply) Posted on January 3, 2012

    Furniture (I would be better versed in office furniture). Lots of which comes from China which bring in other issues such as quality, pollution, customer services, etc… I have been in the industry since 1984.

    If interested please let me know.

  2. bobby (Reply) Posted on January 6, 2012

    Darren

    Well done this year. I thought you did very well, despite some difficult Months

    I look forward to reading your book that i will assume will be available this year

    regards
    bobby

  3. Isabelle (Reply) Posted on January 6, 2012

    2 companies make screwdrivers in Canada:

    1) Fuller Tools: https://www.fullertool.com/pages/eng/index.php
    2) Picquic Tools: https://www.picquic.com/

    Isabelle

  4. Isabelle (Reply) Posted on January 6, 2012

    Hi Darren,

    I know of 2 baseball bat manufacturers:

    1) Composite: https://www.combatsportsgroup.com/
    2) Solid wood: https://www.sambat.com/

    Isabelle

  5. Bud Lorch (Reply) Posted on January 31, 2012