Canadian alternatives for your medicine cabinet

It’s not news that the American President has declared economic war on Canada. Now that he has finally admitted that his goal is to have Canada become the 51st state, Canadians have their elbows up. Buying Canadian products instead of American ones is a major way for Canadians to react. 

It is almost impossible to keep track of which tariffs are on, from both sides of the border. It is similarly difficult to know the dates that the various tariffs start, are put on-hold, finish or are extended. It’s enough to give us headaches. What can you take for that?

Before you reach for Tylenol®, consider this. In 1955, Tylenol® was introduced worldwide by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, an American company. Four years later, Johnson & Johnson purchased McNeil and took over the manufacture and sales of Tylenol®. 

Johnson & Johnson is an American company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In this instance, New Brunswick is a city in the United States, not a province in Canada. But before you discard your Tylenol® as a patriotic act, read on. 

In 1978, a company named Kenvue Inc. became a player in the Tylenol© saga. Kenvue is a spin-off from Johnson & Johnson. It claims to be the world’s largest consumer health company by revenue. The company’s headquarters are also located in New Jersey.

Kenvue began manufacturing Tylenol® in 1978, in a facility in Guelph, ON. Kenvue Canada then spun off from the American Kenvue in 2023. It continues to manufacture almost all the Tylenol® sold in Canada. 

If you did not have a headache before trying to figure out the provenance of Tylenol©, you would likely have one after an easy Google search. Would it lead you to believe that the Tylenol© you take is a Canadian drug because it is made by a Canadian company?

The challenge we are all facing in playing our part in the tariff wars is the definition of Canadian products. The history of Tylenol® is but one example, and even the information related above does not tell the whole story. 

It is true that a Canadian company (Kenvue Canada) manufactures the drug. But where do the ingredients come from?

The main ingredient in Tylenol® is acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol in some countries). It is derived from coal tar. 

It is a synthetic compound manufactured in countries including Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Grance, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Korea, Romania, Taiwan, the U.K. and the US. 

Canada does not manufacture acetaminophen and information on the source of the ingredient used at Kenvue Canada is not known.

The bottom line is that it is very difficult to determine whether over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are Canadian. They may be manufactured here. They may contain some Canadian-sourced ingredients. But total transparency  is not easily discovered.

When it is, it may be a product that doesn’t taste great. Buckley’s® is an example. Located in Mississauga, ON, W.K. Buckley Limited is known for its distinctively tasting cough syrups. Some would choose a harsher adjective to describe the taste, which the company emphasizes in most of its advertising. 

The original cough medicine was developed in Toronto in 1919. Within 20 years, Buckley’s® was being sold in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world. The current range of Buckley’s cough compounds continue to be made in Ontario. Buckleys continues to be a Canadian company, under license to Haleon, a consumer health company registered in the U.K.

As for the ingredients…

Many common first aid and OTC medications made by Canadian companies can substitute for American brands. In addition to the Canadian options already mentioned and those in the table below, other companies that make OTC or non-prescription medications in Canada include Apotex Inc. (Toronto, ON), Atlas Laboratories (Montreal, QC), Bausch Health Companies Inc. (Laval, QC), Mint Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Mississauga, ON), Pharmascience Inc. (Montreal, QC), Sterling Industries (Woodbridge, ON), Taro Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Brampton, ON), Teva Canada (Greater Toronto, ON) and Vital Health (Winnipeg, MB).

These companies often are the ones that prepare store-brand products for pharmacies and other chain stores. Vital Health is a good example; it manufactures products for both Shoppers Drug Mart (Life brand) and Costco (Kirkland brand). Taro Pharmaceuticals also produces Life brand products for Shoppers.

Other options for Canadian OTC medications

Another potential source for Canadian products is health food stores. These facilities, whether chain stores or independents, sell products that may not be as familiar as big brands from the U.S. or elsewhere. 

Many of the products are homeopathic; some are also organic; others are vegan. Still others are lactose-free, sugar-free and/or gluten-free. Most do not contain either food colouring or added fragrance. The largest homeopathic company in the world is Boiron, a family-owned French company that established a Canadian subsidiary in St. Bruno, QC. Over 35 years ago.

Homéocan, founded in Montreal in 1987, is the largest Canadian company in this industry. In 2004, it began distribution to Russia, Vietnam, Europe and the Middle East. It also supplies private label products for major pharmacy chains worldwide. 

Both these companies offer a range of healthcare products that do not require prescriptions. The Health Canada website Licensed Natural Health Product Database lists some 8,500 homeopathic products, although not all are made in Canada.

One more pill to swallow

Canada’s new-found (and welcome) patriotism commends boycotting American companies operating in Canada. And it’s a hard pill to swallow, when this involves giving up American chain stores (on-line and bricks-and-mortar), American labels and American services. 

But we should be cautious about how strictly we follow this path. Many American companies offer products made in other countries, primarily China and India. It’s an individual decision about purchasing items made world-wide and sold by American companies in Canada. 

But other American companies operate huge divisions in Canada, employing thousands of Canadians. As one example, Costco has over 100 warehouse stores across Canada. These stores employ over 53,000 staff, paying higher than average wages and providing excellent benefits. Glassdoor, an organization that rates corporations, ranks Costco  as one of Canada’s largest retailers, with more than $25 billion in sales per year. 

The author is not promoting Costco; rather, I use it as an example. And full disclosure: I have a Costco membership. Trump’s economic war on Canada has effects on Canada that go beyond the labels on products. Costco and other American companies that operate here in Canada provide employment to thousands of Canadians. And, while they sell American products, they also offer Canadian goods to a huge number of us.

Read the labels, but read them in the larger Canadian context.

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