We looked at 64 pet food, treat, and accessory brands that call themselves Canadian. 34 are fully owned, sourced, and made here. The rest are more complicated than you think.
Onslow's Team · August 27, 2026
Type a pet food, treat, or accessory brand to find out where it's really made.
Not all “Canadian” pet brands are created equal. Here's how we classify them.
Tier 1: Fully Canadian
34Canadian-owned, Canadian ingredients, manufactured in Canada. "Product of Canada" requires 98%+ Canadian content. These brands come closest.
Tier 2: Made here, foreign-owned
3Still manufactured in Canada, but the parent company is now foreign-owned. Mars bought Orijen/Acana in 2023. A French company bought FirstMate in 2026. The food hasn't changed, but the profits leave.
Tier 3: Partially made elsewhere
11Canadian-owned, but some products or ingredients come from outside Canada. Petcurean (Go!, Now Fresh) makes canned food in New Jersey. Boreal sources lamb from Australia. Open Farm's primary factory is in Minnesota.
Tier 4: Canadian-owned, made abroad
5Canadian-owned company, but products are manufactured overseas. Canada Pooch is made in Vietnam. Messy Mutts and DexyPaws import from China. Earth Rated's bags are manufactured in China.
Tier 5: Not actually Canadian
11Appears on Canadian brand lists but is not a Canadian company. Fera Pet Organics is owned by General Mills in California. Hill's, Purina, Iams, and Pedigree are all American or Swiss-owned multinationals.
| Brand | Tier |
|---|---|
| 1st Choice | 🍁1 |
| Adored Beast Apothecary | 🍁1 |
| ATTITUDE | 🍁1 |
| Benny Bully's | 🍁1 |
| Big Country Raw | 🍁1 |
| Black Sheep Organics | 🍁1 |
| Bold by Nature | 🍁1 |
| Bowsers | 🍁1 |
| Caledon Farms | 🍁1 |
| Canadian Naturals | 🍁1 |
| Cranky Frank | 🍁1 |
| Crumps' Naturals | 🍁1 |
| Harlow Blend | 🍁1 |
| Horizon Pet Nutrition | 🍁1 |
| Iron Will Raw | 🍁1 |
| Kabo | 🍁1 |
| Kettle Craft | 🍁1 |
| North Hound Life | 🍁1 |
| Northern Biscuit | 🍁1 |
| Nutram | 🍁1 |
| Nutrience | 🍁1 |
| OdourLock | 🍁1 |
| Only One Treats | 🍁1 |
| Oven-Baked Tradition | 🍁1 |
| Pronature | 🍁1 |
| Red Dog Blue Kat | 🍁1 |
| Smack Pet Food | 🍁1 |
| Tilted Barn | 🍁1 |
| Tollden Farms | 🍁1 |
| Tom & Sawyer | 🍁1 |
| Vetdiet | 🍁1 |
| WellyTails | 🍁1 |
| Woof Concept | 🍁1 |
| Yappetizers | 🍁1 |
| Acana | 🏭2 |
| FirstMate | 🏭2 |
| Orijen | 🏭2 |
| Boreal | ✈️3 |
| Catit | ✈️3 |
| Dogit | ✈️3 |
| Go! Solutions | ✈️3 |
| Muttluks | ✈️3 |
| Now Fresh | ✈️3 |
| Open Farm | ✈️3 |
| Performatrin | ✈️3 |
| PetKind | ✈️3 |
| RC Pets | ✈️3 |
| Vesper | ✈️3 |
| Canada Pooch | 🌏4 |
| DexyPaws | 🌏4 |
| Earth Rated | 🌏4 |
| GF Pet | 🌏4 |
| Messy Mutts | 🌏4 |
| Blue Buffalo | ❌5 |
| Fera Pet Organics | ❌5 |
| Hill's Science Diet | ❌5 |
| Iams | ❌5 |
| Merrick | ❌5 |
| Pedigree | ❌5 |
| Purina | ❌5 |
| Royal Canin | ❌5 |
| Taste of the Wild | ❌5 |
| Wellness | ❌5 |
| Whiskas | ❌5 |
64 brands total. Click any row to see full details.
Five deals that changed who controls Canada's pet food industry.
Orijen / Acana
From
🍁 Champion Petfoods (Alberta)
To
🇺🇸 Mars Petcare
Still made in Alberta. But Mars is the world's largest pet food company. Profits now flow to McLean, Virginia.
Fera Pet Organics
From
🇺🇸 Independent founders
To
🇺🇸 General Mills
Was never Canadian. Shows up on Canadian brand lists, but it's based in Glendale, California.
Petcurean (Go!, Now Fresh)
From
🍁 Ron Mayert & Dan Vanleeuwen (BC)
To
🇺🇸 TA Associates (US PE)
US private equity invested $75M+. Founders still involved, but canned food now made in New Jersey.
Dane Creek Capital
From
🍁 Various indie brands
To
🍁 Dane Creek Capital (Canadian)
One Canadian merchant bank quietly acquired Naturawls, Pets4Life, Tollden Farms, Kettle Craft, and Baie Run. Still Canadian, but consolidating.
FirstMate / Skoki
From
🍁 Michael Florian (BC, 35 years)
To
🇫🇷 Nasta Pet Food
Family-owned since 1989. Still made in Chilliwack, BC, but ownership is now French.
Legally, 98% or more of the production costs must be Canadian. Very few pet brands qualify. Most use 'Made in Canada' instead, which only requires the last substantial transformation to happen here.
The food is still made in Acheson, Alberta with Canadian ingredients. But Mars Petcare (USA) bought Champion Petfoods in 2023, so the company is no longer Canadian-owned.
No. Canada Pooch is a Toronto-based company, but their products are manufactured in Vietnam. The name is misleading.
Canadian manufacturing follows CFIA standards. Ingredient sourcing affects quality and freshness. And buying from Canadian-owned companies keeps jobs and profits in Canada.
We checked corporate registration records, import/export databases, company “About” pages, CFIA facility listings, and news articles about acquisitions. For accessories brands, we cross-referenced shipping records to identify manufacturing countries.
Tier classifications are based on three factors: who owns the company, where the product is physically manufactured, and where the primary ingredients are sourced from. A brand needs all three to be Canadian to qualify as Tier 1.
If we got something wrong, let us know. We update within 24 hours.
Discover local pet stores, groomers, and vets in Toronto and the GTA. Free on iOS and Android.