In this light‑hearted YouTube episode, host Tod Maffin runs a game‑show style quiz with his wife (Speaker B) to determine whether a list of well‑known companies and brands are Canadian. For each item, Tod provides ownership facts—public‑trading status, major shareholders, parent corporations, and stock‑exchange listings—while Speaker B guesses. The dialogue reveals the nuanced reality of “Canadian‑ness”: many firms are publicly listed in Canada but owned by foreign investors, some are subsidiaries of multinational conglomerates, and a few retain significant Canadian family stakes. The segment covers a range of retailers (Dollarama, London Drugs, The Brick, Costco Canada, No Frills, Best Buy, Mountain Equipment Co‑op), consumer brands (Lush, Roots, Kraft Dinner), food producers (Maple Leaf Foods, Molson), media properties (Hockey Night in Canada), and other chains (Party City, Canadian Tire). Throughout, the hosts discuss criteria for classifying a company as Canadian, highlight the complexity of cross‑border ownership, and end with a teaser about future content on Canadian Tire ownership.
Chapters
Hello and welcome back to Is It Canadian? Wife Edition. Hey, we're doing a game show, play along with us. Something's not right. Hey Siri, change the kitchen lights to red. That's more Canadian. Okay, are you ready? I'm going to list off some company names, you tell me whether they are Canadian or not Canadian. We are starting with Dollarama.
Not Canadian.
Publicly traded in Canada. The founder And the family still holds a significant but non-controlling stake. So it's kind of a little bit— it's probably— we would call it Canadian-owned, but it's a little bit, you know, everything publicly traded.
Unequivocal.
You're not gonna get it.
Unequivocal.
London Drugs.
Canadian.
Unequivocal. There you go. The Brick.
Canadian.
Correct. Owned by Leon's Furniture, actually.
Really?
Yeah, also publicly traded. Costco Canada.
Well, I'm just gonna take the bait. That's Canadian.
Nope, that's American. Doesn't matter if they say— doesn't matter if they say Canada at the end. It doesn't matter. Lush, like Lush Cosmetics.
It's British.
Correct, it's British. Roots, the clothing brand.
Well, supposedly they're Canadian, but Lean in. I think, I think that they are American now.
They are just American, like 50.98%.
Unequivocal. Am I right or am I wrong?
All right, Molson Canadian.
I don't know anything about beer. Um, uh, there is a Molson bottling plant in my hometown, so I'm gonna say Canadian.
But are they Canadian?
Yeah, I'm guessing.
This one's tricky. They are neither fully Canadian nor American-owned. They are a genuine multinational. They trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. They have headquarters in Montreal and Chicago. So they are—
they're both. But does trading on a particular nation's stock exchange mean that they're that nation?
I don't know any of this stuff, man.
Pharmacy. Uh, it's got to be Canadian. It's too eccentric to be American.
Yeah, it is eccentric. What is with the stuff they sell in those places sometimes?
There's carpet in the pharmacy in our town.
Maple Leaf Foods.
Yeah, that's Canadian. That's Eastern Canadian, I think.
Yeah, it's publicly traded, but the McCain family still owns about 39%. Okay, you ready?
I'm ready. Lay it on me.
Kraft Dinner. Not Kraft Mac and Cheese. Kraft Dinner.
That's a product, not a company.
It's a brand. It can be owned by something.
Um, I'm gonna say that that one is, uh, not Canadian because that's just a brand of a big multinational.
Correct, it is. It is.
You tried to fool me.
That's right, it was actually mostly owned by Warren Buffett. And he was— he was just dribbling out his shares. It is now— a lot of it is owned by 3G Capital. You know what else 3G Capital owns? Tim Hortons, interestingly enough. Frito-Lay potato chips.
I think Canadian.
Nope, American. Pepsi. No Frills, the grocery chain.
Yeah, that's Loblaws.
Correct. Canadian.
Canadian.
Best Buy.
I don't claim them. I hate Best Buy. Uh, no, I don't know. American.
Yeah, American. Uh, Mountain Equipment Co-op.
Uh, well, it is no longer called Mountain Equipment Co-op. It's called Mountain Equipment Company because it's not a co-op anymore. I don't know who bought it though. I'm gonna say Canadian.
American.
Oh yeah, that's— I mean, that's, that's what happens.
They picked it up on a bankruptcy sale or something.
Yeah, it's awful.
All right, you ready?
Tod doesn't leave the house, so he wouldn't know that.
It's true. Hockey Night in Canada.
I'm, I'm not sure I'm, I'm ready. Can I hold your hand when I say this? I think it's American.
It depends on what you're talking about.
Unequivocal!
I think generally speaking, most people would say Hockey Night in Canada's ownership is American. The broadcast rights are held by Canada, by Rogers. The theme song is owned by Bell Media. The logos though, and the intellectual property are owned by the NHL. What is the NHL? Is the NHL American? Kind of. It is a cooperative of the teams. There are—
A rich person cooperative? Wow.
There are 25 American teams and 7 Canadian teams. I think, which makes it so really hockey in Canada is actually kind of American. Um, that's so sad. While we're talking about the theme song and Bell Media—
Bell Media, oh, it's got to be American.
It's not, it's publicly traded, but it's mostly Canadian.
Oh wow.
Party City, oh, I don't—
we don't claim them. No, American.
American? Yeah. Why? What makes you say American?
Well, I follow this hilarious person on TikTok.
Okay, too long.
Who is all about Party City.
All right, anyway, Canadian.
No, ew.
Do you know, do you know what Canadian company—
I apologize, Party City.
Do you know what Canadian company owns them?
No.
Canadian Tire. Oh, Mark's Work Warehouse.
That's got to be Canadian. Is it? That's my guess.
Yes, it is. Do you know what Canadian company owns Mark's Work Warehouse?
Uh, you know how you can tell is you go to the Shoppers Drug Mart and you go to the gift card section and you can tell which companies are grouped up. That's true, you know how they're connected. But I don't remember that one.
Canadian Tire.
Oh, okay. Sport Chek, also Canadian Tire.
Correct. Atmosphere, the—
also Canadian Tire.
Correct. And now Canadian Tire. Think hard about this one. This is the last one.
Well, they offer grants that I've applied for, and they seem very Canadian, so I'm gonna say Canadian.
