What started as a patriotic response to U.S. annexation musings has turned into a crash course in Canadian manufacturing for Ottawa-based marketers Liam Mooney and Emma Cochrane. Their viral “Canada is not for sale” hats, popularized by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, have exposed the difficulties of producing apparel entirely in Canada.
The idea for the hat came to Mooney and Cochrane on January 8 as they watched Ford respond to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion on social media about annexing Canada.
“Emma and I looked at each other from across the couch, sprang up, and said, ‘We’ve got to do something about this,’” recalled Mooney, co-founder of Jackpine Dynamic Branding.
By that evening, they had designed the hats and received their first orders. The hats, which sell for $45 to $55, were initially made-to-order, with each sale fulfilled by embroidering a hat.
Orders skyrocketed after Ford wore one during a January 15 meeting with Canada’s premiers and the prime minister. By then, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein had endorsed the hat on social media, and knock-offs began appearing.
With demand surging to 50,000 orders, Mooney and Cochrane faced an urgent need to scale production—but sourcing a fully Canadian-made hat proved almost impossible.
The duo quickly learned that Canadian apparel manufacturing has declined significantly. Over the years, much of the industry has moved overseas, driven by lower costs for materials, labor, and production.
“Imagine you’re a snake trying to consume a giant bowling ball. That’s what we’ve been experiencing,” said Mooney, reflecting on the difficulty of producing a fully made-in-Canada hat.
While some hats are made entirely in Canada, most suppliers rely on imports. For now, Mooney and Cochrane are using imported hats from Vietnam, Bangladesh, and China, or toques from the U.S., which are then embroidered in Toronto.
Henry Navarro Delgado, a fashion professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, explained that Canadian clothing manufacturing is now largely limited to specialized apparel, such as military or firefighter uniforms. Even these products often rely on imported components like zippers, thread, and buttons.
“A T-shirt in China can cost as little as $1 to produce. We just can’t compete with that,” said Navarro Delgado.
Assistant professor Jimil Ataman from the University of Alberta’s department of human ecology noted that producing apparel domestically under Canadian labor laws significantly raises costs.
“We’ve been socialized to expect a baseball cap to cost $15, but making it ethically and entirely in Canada drives the price much higher,” Ataman said.
Mooney and Cochrane’s hats, priced at $45 to $55, reflect these challenges but still resonate with Canadians who value the product’s message.
Mooney and Cochrane are continuing their search for a fully made-in-Canada solution while producing up to 1,000 embroidered hats daily in Toronto. Despite the hurdles, they’ve been moved by the support and solidarity shown by Canadians.
“There’s a common solidarity,” Mooney said. “When the chips are down, we stand together.”
For now, the hats represent more than just a political statement—they’ve sparked a national conversation about the complexities of domestic manufacturing and the value of buying Canadian-made products.