Canada’s tariff war with the U.S. has many homegrown companies hoping customers remember there’s more to them than their names. Despite branding themselves with nods to the U.S., Boston Pizza, New York Fries, Montana’s, California Sandwiches and The Great American Backrub are all Canadian and have been working to ensure the public doesn’t forget.
Featured credit cards
Get $75 Gift Card Offer
Best for travel card
Scotiabank Passport
Visa Infinite Card
Earn points on every purchase, pay no FX fees, and receive complimentary airport lounge access (with 6 annual passes).
Offer ends
May 01, 2025
GO TO SITE
Annual Fee:
$150
Interest Rates:
20.99% purchase, 22.99% cash advance, 22.99% balance transfer
Welcome offer:
$300 value
Earn up to $1,300 in value in the first 12 months, including up to 40,000 bonus Scene+ points. To qualify, apply by July 1, 2025.
featured
Best for cash back
SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express
Earn 4% cash back on groceries and gas. Plus get a flat 2% on all other everyday purchases.
GO TO SITE
Annual Fee:
$120
Interest Rates:
21.99% purchase, 21.99% cash advance, N/A balance transfer
Welcome offer:
$250 value
Earn a bonus 10% cash back on all purchases for your first 3 months (up to $2,000 in purchases). Plus, earn a $50 statement credit when you make a purchase in month 13. This could add up to $250 in bonus value in your first 13 months.
Get $100 Gift Card Offer
Best low APR card
MBNA True Line Mastercard credit card
An ideal option for cardholders looking to manage debt, the card’s low 12.99% APR is almost half the conventional interest rate found on most cards.
Offer ends
April 22, 2025
GO TO SITE
Annual Fee:
$0
Interest Rates:
12.99% purchase, 24.99% cash advance, 17.99% balance transfer
New York Fries came from Brantford, Ont.
“Not going to lie, we’ve had to do a little bit of pivoting,” said Alyssa Berenstein, senior director of marketing at Vaughan, Ont.-headquartered New York Fries. “We’ve had to do a little bit of answering questions to consumers who may or may not understand the fact that we are wholeheartedly a Canadian brand owned by a Canadian company.”
That work is being taken on across a slew of Canadian companies with U.S. names, who have found the tariff war U.S. President Donald Trump is waging is putting consumer knowledge of their brands’ ownership and heritage to the test. While they insist their monikers aren’t in need of changing because they’ve been able to cut through any confusion and aren’t seeing their sales slump, they’re relishing any opportunity they get to share where their allegiances lie.
At The Great American Backrub’s two Toronto locations, patriotism comes in the form of signs advertising that the business is Canadian. “I thought about … putting a big red ribbon across American, but I didn’t think the landlords would like that too much” owner Nazir Lalani said.
His massage parlour business started as a franchise of a U.S. company about 25 years ago but hasn’t had ties to the master franchisor for about 20 years. The franchisor has folded, but Lalani didn’t change the name because he wanted to hang onto the brand awareness he built under name. He recently retitled the company’s website The Backrub but insists that was a branding “experiment” that had nothing to do with Trump or customer confusion and won’t extend to stores, even now that the U.S. has become unpalatable.
“I’m reluctant because … this guy’s a yo-yo,” Lalani said referencing Trump. “This whole thing could disappear in a month.”
By sticking with The Great American Backrub name for the physical stores, Lalani estimates he’s saving thousands. New, permanent signage for stores would cost him $10,000 and a switch would require new contracts and marketing materials.
Customers don’t seem bothered by the name either. In fact, sales have risen since the Canadian signs went up, Lalani said.
Boston Pizza originated in Edmonton
Boston Pizza also hasn’t taken a hit because of its American name. “The majority of Canadians know that we are Canadian, so it’s not as big of an issue for us, and we haven’t seen a negative impact on business, luckily” said James Kawalecki, Boston Pizza’s vice-president of marketing. “But we absolutely do feel for others (because) that wasn’t always the case.”
The pizza chain was founded in Edmonton in 1964 by Greek sailor Gus Agioritis, who wanted to visit Boston but started a restaurant with the city’s name instead. The chain’s history has become more well-known in recent years because of Dragon’s Den appearances by Jim Treliving, an RCMP officer who opened his first Boston Pizza franchise in 1968 and charted the company’s modern success.
Kawalecki also credits a recent This Hour has 22 Minutes sketch on how to buy Canadian and the move to back local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic with dispelling any misnomers about the brand’s origins.
Proudly Canadian brands
Sharing a company’s story is always important but has become even more crucial these days as shoppers look to support domestic brands and U.S. companies play up their Canadian ties to try to hold onto sales, said Jo-Ann McArthur, president at Toronto advertising agency Nourish Food Marketing.
“We (in the industry) all assume consumers have the same amount of knowledge as we do, but they don’t,” she said. “There’s so much confusion right now out there, too. Consumers are really distrustful with this whole maple washing of products of Canada and made in Canada.”
Montana’s is from Oakville, Ont.
Rather than resorting to a hasty and expensive name change that would erase brand awareness, she said the best strategy for Canadian companies with American names is clever marketing. That’s what Montana’s BBQ & Bar, which first opened in Oakville, Ont., in 1995, is doing, chief operating officer Mark Sozanski said.
The company is posting on social media that it is comprised of locally owned and operated locations overseen by Recipe Unlimited, a restaurant conglomerate based in Vaughan, Ont.
Ensuring Canadians know the northern ties
New York Fries, which became Canadian owned after an Ontario entrepreneur transplanted the chip shop’s concept from New York City’s South Street Seaport in the 1980s, is also under the Recipe Unlimited banner and relying on new marketing to make its history clear.
It’s not considering a name change—so far.
“I don’t think we’re going to reverse course yet, but stranger things have happened, I suppose,” Berenstein said.
Also read
Income Tax Guide for Canadians
Deadlines, tax tips and more
California Sandwiches is another Toronto eatery
The refrain is much the same at California Sandwiches, a chain of quick-serve restaurants that has sold Italian panini to Torontonians since 1967.
“We’ve been around a long time. We can’t just change our name,” president Mary Bernaudo said. “But I’ll tell you this, we’ve had conversations. If things get really bad, then, we will do whatever is best for our country.”
The family-owned company started by Bernaudo’s parents has cycled through many names. It began as Mama Cristina’s and was once called La Rinacente, but became California Sandwiches after customers started teasing the family when its members came back from vacation tanned.
Across the company’s 16 restaurants, Bernaudo has only heard of one customer who suggested it was time for California Sandwiches to change its name again. “My customers are very verbal,” said Bernaudo. πTrust me. If they’re not happy with the situation, they’ll let you know.”
So far, the little they’ve said has given her confidence to forge ahead with California Sandwiches but that’s not set in stone.
“We’ree open to anything,” she said. “If we had to (change our name) to stand behind our country, after having the same name for all these years, it’s on the table.”
Read more about shopping Canadian:
- Where to find Canadian food
- How Canadians are responding to tariff threats and price hikes
- How much will Trump’s tariffs cost Canada and Canadians?
The post Is New York Fries American?—the Canadian brands you didn’t know are Canadian appeared first on MoneySense.