Canadians are paying closer attention to where their purchases come from. We are checking labels, looking up companies and asking questions we may not have thought to ask a few years ago.
Is this company actually Canadian? Where is the product made? Who does my purchase support?
For us, being a Canadian maker is not a new marketing campaign. Natura began in Alberta more than 20 years ago, and our products are still made here today in our studio in Okotoks.
That means something to us. We know it means something to many of our customers too.
What “made here” looks like at Natura
Our products do not arrive finished from an overseas factory with a Natura label added at the end.
We are best known for our soy candles, but candles are only part of what we make. Our team also produces aroma melts, candle refills, aroma mists, diffuser oils, shower steamers, bath soaks, lotions, laundry products and home-cleaning products.
Raw materials and packaging arrive at our studio, not finished Natura products. Depending on what we are making that day, we may be blending plant-based scents, pouring candles, pressing shower steamers, mixing bath soaks or laundry powder, filling bottles, labelling containers or packing orders.
We also develop and test our products here. When a candle needs a different wick, a scent needs adjusting, a spray needs a better pump or a formula needs refining, we are the ones working through it. The product does not pass through a distant manufacturer that our customers can never reach.
When you contact Natura with a question, you are speaking to the same small business that made and packed what you received.
That accountability is one of the less obvious benefits of buying from a Canadian maker.
Canadian-made does not mean every material comes from Canada
This is an important distinction, and one we do not want to gloss over.
Canada does not produce every type of container, wick, botanical ingredient, raw material or packaging component that our business needs. Like most Canadian manufacturers, we use a combination of domestic and imported materials.
What makes our products Canadian-made is the work and transformation that happen here. The formulation, blending, pouring, mixing, pressing, filling, finishing, testing, labelling and packing are done in our Okotoks studio.
The Competition Bureau also distinguishes between “Made in Canada” and “Product of Canada.” For non-food goods, a Made in Canada claim generally requires the last substantial transformation to happen in Canada, at least 51 percent of direct production or manufacturing costs to be incurred here, and a qualifying statement when imported components are used. A Product of Canada claim has a much higher Canadian-content threshold.
That is why it is worth looking beyond a maple leaf on the package. Canadian-owned, designed in Canada, packaged in Canada and made in Canada do not necessarily mean the same thing.
What your purchase supports
When you buy a Natura product, the full purchase price does not magically remain in Okotoks. We pay for materials, shipping, software, equipment, rent, utilities, taxes and all the other costs involved in running a product-based business.
But a meaningful portion supports work happening here in Canada.
It helps pay the people who make, label and pack our products. It helps us purchase services and supplies from other Canadian businesses. It keeps a small Alberta studio operating and allows us to continue developing products rather than simply importing finished goods.
It also preserves the knowledge that comes from making products repeatedly over many years. Candle making is not just pouring wax into a jar, and creating bath, body or household products is not simply following a recipe. Ingredient ratios, scent balance, temperature, humidity, packaging and testing can all affect the finished result. That experience stays inside a Canadian business and is passed along to the people we train.
Small and medium-sized businesses account for 99 percent of Canadian businesses and employ a large share of Canada's private-sector workforce. Supporting Canadian-made products is not an abstract idea. It supports the network of owners, employees, suppliers and service providers behind them.
Buying Canadian should not mean settling
We do not believe anyone should purchase a product simply because the company asks for Canadian support.
It still needs to be well made. The ingredients should be clearly explained. The price should make sense for the quality, and the product should do what it promises.
That matters even more now, when household budgets are tight. Recent Canadian holiday-shopping research found that most shoppers are more likely to choose a gift clearly identified as Made in Canada, but reasonable pricing remains important.
Buying Canadian should feel like a good purchase, not a donation.
Our job is to earn that choice by making products that perform well, choosing ingredients thoughtfully, using plant-based scent ingredients, offering refillable and reusable options where we can, and being available when something goes wrong.
Why we still make everything ourselves
Making products in small batches is not the easiest or least expensive way to operate.
There are faster options. Candles, bath products, room sprays and household products can all be ordered from large manufacturers, private-labelled and shipped to customers without the brand ever making the product itself.
That has never been what Natura is about.
We want control over what goes into our products and how they perform. We want to know how they were made, how they were tested and whether the finished product meets our standards. We also want to be able to improve something when customer feedback tells us it is not working as well as it should.
Keeping production in-house allows us to do that.
A Canadian business, supported by Canadian customers
Natura has been here for more than two decades because customers continued to choose us.
Many people first found us because they wanted a natural soy candle. Others were looking for plant-based home fragrance, bath products, laundry products or household essentials made without conventional synthetic fragrance. Increasingly, people are also finding us because they want to support a Canadian company and purchase products that are genuinely made here.
We do not take that support lightly.
Every order gives us another reason to keep producing in Canada, employing people here and building a business that has remained rooted in Alberta from the beginning.
If buying Canadian is important to you, ask where a product was made and what work actually happened here. A Canadian address or maple leaf can be a starting point, but the company should be willing to give you a clear answer.
Ours is simple: Natura products are developed, blended, poured, mixed, filled, finished and packed by our team in Okotoks, Alberta.
Explore our Canadian-made products or learn more about Natura.
