Get Lit

Choosing Canadian-made candles goes beyond setting a festive mood this season – they are a thoughtful way to celebrate craftsmanship, support local industries and bring home scents that tell a uniquely Canadian story…

By Adriana Ermter

As the days shorten and winter wraps itself around us, candles become more than decoration – they become a ritual. A flickering flame can soften the edges of a cold night, turn an ordinary room into a warm refuge and anchor us during the busiest season of the year. On the cusp of the holidays, candles are everywhere: glowing on dinner tables, nestled into gift boxes and filling homes with cozy, heart-warming scents like pine needles, spices and wood fires. This year, however, what we choose to light matters. 

“There’s a whole movement for keeping the dollars close to home right now,” explains Michelle Kalman, founder of The Go-To, a public relations company focused on representing Canadians and their brands. “Canadians want to back Canadian brands, financially and personally.”

Sure, a candle may seem like, well, just a candle. But buying Canadian-made reshapes how we support local craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and economic sustainability. Every purchase helps fuel local farms, sustains beekeepers, supports essential oil producers, strengthens small businesses and protects the ecosystems that make these candles possible. 

“It’s important for people to support the brands that are helping support the economy in which 
they live in,” says Victoria Mierzwa, the co-founder of LOHN Candles, based in Toronto. “It benefits everyone: manufacturers, wholesalers, the employees of wholesalers, the suppliers of raw materials.… Buying a candle from one brand doesn’t just benefit that brand: it benefits everyone that’s connected to that brand, and that can make a huge impact in supporting all types of businesses.”

Which makes the choice to shop Canadian-made more relevant than ever. A 2025 study from Food Processing Skills Canada (FPSC) found that 81 per cent of Canadians are motivated to buy Canadian. While ongoing U.S. tariffs may have ignited this shift, the outcome is undeniably positive: it supports communities, protects the environment and celebrates locally grown ingredients.

A well-lit advantage

“Homegrown candles are very high-touch products,” affirms Mierzwa. “You know you’re going to get a small batch candle that is handmade, and the quality is impeccable. There’s no automation. It’s all about the hand mixing of the wax and the fragrance, the hand pouring and packaging by hand. It’s about keeping the business within Canada and supporting the Canadian industry.”

This industry blends the agriculture and scents of our landscape – soy fields in Ontario, cedar groves in British Columbia, golden beeswax from Prairie hives and more. Each ingredient tells a story tied to the land and the people who cultivate it.

Homegrown ingredients

Start with soy wax. Canada’s soybean fields stretch across Ontario, Quebec and the Prairies. According to Statistics Canada, 1.6 million acres of soybeans were planted in Manitoba alone this year. With nearly 200,000 working farms across the country, buying soy-based candles supports Canadian farmers and reinforces the shift towards renewable, plant-based resources.

When harvested and pressed, those soybeans produce a clean, creamy wax that burns slowly and evenly. The wax has a smooth, buttery texture and a subtle, natural scent that doesn’t compete with fragrance oils. Brands like SOJA&CO in Montreal, and Homecoming Candles and the Canvas Candle Company in British Columbia, rely on 100 per cent hand-poured soy wax, creating candles that last longer and emit fewer toxins than paraffin alternatives. 

While not plant-based, beeswax is another Canadian treasure. Sourced from hives scattered across British Columbia and Alberta, it is golden, warm and rich with a natural honeyed aroma. It burns cleanly, releasing negative ions that help purify the air. BC Candles in Richmond, B.C., is one of many companies harnessing this ingredient’s purity. And beekeeping is on the rise. Statistics Canada notes nearly 15,500 of these buzzy professionals in 2024, marking six years of steady growth. Supporting beeswax production sustains both the candle industry and the pollinators vital to Canada’s ecosystem and food supply. 

Coconut wax, while not locally grown, plays a starring role when blended with soy for a smooth, clean burn. Canadian brands like Hollow Tree Candle Co. in the Pacific Northwest source ethically produced coconut wax and blend it locally. What makes their candles distinctly Canadian is how this wax becomes a vessel for homegrown scent stories – forest floors after rain, cedar cabins, mountain air – all transformed by Canadian craftsmanship.

And then there are the essential oils. Canadian forests and fields provide an abundance of aromatic botanicals, from spruce, pine, cedar and fir, to lavender, peppermint and clary sage. These oils are extracted from leaves, needles and flowers, capturing the pure essence of nature. Vancouver-based Woodlot builds its plant-based aromatherapy blends around these materials, creating scents so evocative that opening the packaging to one of their candles feels like stepping into a West Coast forest and taking a deep breath of crisp air, damp earth and resinous woods. Supporting brands like Woodlot means supporting the growers, distillers and harvesters who make these ingredients possible.

Fanning impact’s flame

The impact of choosing Canadian candles reaches far beyond the checkout counter. Economically, it keeps dollars circulating nationwide among farmers, beekeepers, essential oil producers, artisans and retailers. Ethically and culturally, it strengthens identity and pride. 

“When you live in Ontario, buying a candle that was made in Newmarket, like one from The Market Candle Company, just feels authentic,” says Kalman. “It makes you feel good, too, because you know it supports the local maker. It’s like a rebellion against generic buying. It’s Canada strong – a way to check that box to promote and remind ourselves to be Canada proud.”

That pride is often rooted in a sense of place – moments like camping in Tofino or summers in Muskoka. Many Canadian brands weave these inspirations into their scents. B.C.’s Homecoming, for example, is known for its clean, modern fragrances that echo West Coast sea air and towering evergreens. LOHN crafts poetic scent narratives inspired by journeys and rituals, transporting you to windswept lakeshores, snowy trails and sunlit kitchens.

“We like to create scents with our candles that feel a little more personal, like our fir and cypress tree scent ‘Evergreen,’ a juicy red wine ‘Bordeaux,’ and a wild ivy called ‘Snowdrop’ that’s super, super magical,” enthuses Mierzwa. 

Scents and sensibility

For consumers, candles offer hyper personalization – a way to align purchases with values while supporting Canadian artisans and sustainability. Mala, based in Vancouver, plants a tree for every candle sold, and recently partnered with Veritree to verify their reforestation impact. Vigyl Candles blends light with art through gender-fluid, photography-like inspired packaging, creating a shared cultural experience. Wild Flicker in Hanover, Ont., which began as a side hustle and a counter to migraine-inducing scents, has evolved into a thriving vegan, clean-burning brand.

After all, says Mierzwa, candles are “the first and the last piece of the puzzle. You’ve come home, you’ve maybe unloaded your groceries, you’ve taken off your shoes, you’re ready to enjoy your space. The ritual of lighting a candle signifies something’s about to happen. Maybe you’re entertaining or maybe you’re going to relax.” 

Either way, when you light a Canadian candle, it’s always a small act with a big impact.

ADRIANA ERMTER is a Toronto-based lifestyle-magazine pro who has travelled the globe writing about must-spritz fragrances, child poverty, beauty and grooming.