Fair Trade Mdse.

[Italy52]

Would like to bring my daughter back a little something from Canada --- possibly a scarf, clothing, small jewelry.  She like to support "fair trade" items.  Any possibility I could find something in Canada?  If so, where?  Thanks in advance for any advice.

[martincath]

You might be using that specific term as a more general 'not screwing over the folks who made it' designator, but just in case - by definition, a locally-made souvenir in any developed country is never a Fair Trade item - so actual Fair Trade products are kinda crappy as souvenirs go, since they're not Canadian despite potentially doing good by kicking back more payments to women/POC in the developing world. If she'd rather have Fair Trade than Canadian, yes you'll find plenty of places selling such stuff but you'd have to check individual items/displays in stores, but I can't think of any who stock exclusively Fair Trade items and those items would also be getting exported from their origins to the US where you'd almost certainly pay less for the same thing due to our higher taxes.

 

The best way to check off Fair Trade-esque 'more profits to makers-rather-than-middlemen' especially if she wants to support poor/minorities would be to purchase something made by First Nations artists & artisans - try the store under Skwachays Lodge which has a ton of arty stuff from big sculptures & paintings down to jewelry and clothing items. There are also plenty of jewelry stores that have sections specifically displaying work by local artisans, e.g. Taraxca on Granville Island (who are also pretty good about giving coupons & discounts for first-time buyers - they mostly sell silver so there are some extremely affordable options not just 'big ticket' things - and the stuff that isn't locally-made does include some Fair Trade type stuff).

Edited May 5, 2019 by martincath

[Italy52]

Thanks for the feedback, martincath, I appreciate it very much and will try and see if I can come up with something based on your information.