With the ongoing threat of U.S. tariffs, two Edmonton software groups are looking to help Canadians find Canadian-made goods, with a simple scan of a barcode.
“I think both Matt and I wanted to support local,” said William Boytinck, Shop Canadian app developer.
Boytinck and fellow recent grad Matthew Suddaby put their tech skills to the test, releasing an app earlier this month called ‘Shop Canadian’. It’s already garnered over 200,000 downloads.
“We sort of just, kinda happen into it. I mean we didn’t expect all of this attention or any of this to happen,” said Boytinck.
Suddaby adding, “We really thought it would blow up this much.”
Shop Canadian relies on user-generated updates, noting how knowing if something is Made in Canada, can get complicated.
“Because Canadian and American supply chains were interconnected … it’s important to be able to try to split that apart and come up with the solutions that allow people to see really how Canadian product is,” explained Boytinck.
The app is not alone. Last week, CityNews brought you the story of ‘Maple Scan’ the Calgary-made app that uses AI to identify Canadian-made products, and Edmonton’s Punchcard System recently launched ‘Check the Label’.
“Then we’re using A.I. to be able to look at the internet from their databases or their websites to understand their providence or their supply of their information. And then on top of all of that, we’re asking our users to be able to vote on the products as well to make sure that the AI is delivering the right information,” said Sam Jenkins, the CEO of Punchcard System.
The apps may differ in approach, but both want to help Canadians support local.
“We wanna know where our products come from and we wanna be able to do a better job of supporting local,” said Jenkins.
Suddaby adding, “Even without all of the talks with the US imposing tariffs, I think that supporting ourselves, supporting our local businesses and everything like that, I think it’s really important and I’ve always believed that was important.”