Latest volley in Trump trade war swells ranks of Okanagan-based group dedicated to boycott

The Trump administration’s latest wave of tariffs on Canadian goods appears to pushing more elbows up across the country.

That’s according to Vernon resident Fred Nelson who started a Facebook group called Buy & Shop Canadian First in response to the first tariff’s imposed little over a year ago.

The group is approaching 15,000 members from coast to coast and beyond who are dedicated to boycotting American goods and services, and work together to source local products.

“The elbows are up and the gloves are off,” Nelson said. “We’ve had 2,500 more members join since the (latest) tariffs were imposed. People are into it.”

The 50% tariffs were imposed on a wide range of Canadian goods, Aug. 22, after trade talks fell through, with Canada responding with counter tariffs on imported U.S. goods including dairy products, steel, appliances and electronics. It’s part of the ongoing trade dispute that began in May, 2025.

The new tariffs apply to wide range of goods from beer, wine and spirits, to milk products and hockey equipment, according to Business Insider.

The new list will require research and effort from those dedicated to buying Canadian first, and a continuation of efforts to source local.

“A lot of people are upset by the fact many of the larger grocery chains have removed markers identifying where products are coming from,” Nelson said. “How easy it is for a company to put a maple leaf label on their packaging when you still have to figure out what it really means.

“Is the product made in Canada or is it made in Canada with international ingredients? People want to put money into Canadian products, not those that have varying levels of Canadian content.”

Nelson said citrus fruits and celery are common products that continue to be difficult to source locally.

“Most of it is from the states although some smaller retail chains are looking for citrus from other countries like South Africa,” he said. “Celery seems to be a real sticker, we have a hard time getting that. We’re still in our growing season, but come fall, the same thing will happen.”

What he called a “sticky one” is the use of American-made media platforms like Facebook and Netflix.

“That continues to be a point of contention,” he said. “A lot of members boycotted Disney and Prime but Netflix is tricky because there’s a lot of Canadian content in there, and U.S.-based platforms like Facebook have been such a big part of our vernacular it’s hard to separate from them.

“People need to find and support Canadian platforms and bring their friends with them,” he said.

Every day Nelson has roughly 100 new members joining the group, some of which are from the United States.

“They are moderated to see if they’re there to favour the boycotts or cause problems,” he said. “Those that join are generally ashamed and embarrassed about what is happening in their country, and what their regime is doing to other countries like ours.”

Generally, people in the group are committed to boycotting American goods, including alcohol, American retailers and services, and have stopped travelling to the states.

Bashing of federal or provincial governments is not allowed on the page. Nelson said it isn’t productive and creating division can only give the “American machine” more reason to keep the pressure on.

“The list of tariffed Canadian goods is substantial and we’ll be hit to some degree by American goods coming to Canada,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see how this really plays out.”

Go here to join the Buy & Shop Canadian First Facebook group.