Canadian Art Supplies and Canadian made paints

Wondering where to buy Canadian Made art supplies?  Here are some ideas.

For those of you in the future, I am writing this on the 4th of March, 2025.  And I hope so much that this a date that has zero meaning to future readers as nothing long lasting happened here.  I hope.

For those of you in the present day, I want to share some of my favourite Canadian art supplies.  

Watercolours:

Beam Paints handmade watercolours

(my review)

They have the whole affirmative action, First Nations owned, female lead, eco-friendly, etc stuff if that's your cuppa tea.  They are also handmade in Ontario.  

What really matters is they make the best watercolour paints I've ever tried.  

HannahLouMyers handmade watercolour paint 

(my review)

Handmade watercolours made in or near Vancouver, BC, these are amazing paints to work with.  The dot cards are generous and an excellent place to start if you are new to handmade watercolours.

Oil Paints

Kama Pigments Oil Paints

I haven't bought from these yet, so I don't know how good they are.  I'm hoping to save up and put in an order this summer.

The big advantages seem to be Canadian Made (Quebec?), handmade/hand processed, and a long history of making and selling paints for almost thirty years.  They are also exceptionally affordable for professional grade paints - which my research suggests they are.

They are made with walnut oil which makes them a likely substitute for my current favourite paint M. Graham (made in Oregon, alas).

The things that hold me back from buying these right away is the lack of lightfastness information and lack of reviews in English (and google not willing to share french language sites with me despite having a translation option).  If you do try these, please let me know how it goes.

Other

I want to give a shout out for some locally owned art supply shops on the Left Coast.  They often carry Canadian made art supplies.

Opus Art Supplies

Monks Office also has a lot of fine art supplies worth checking out.

And for my lovely friends south of the 49th, I highly recommend American made M Graham for both watercolours and oils.  Take care and remember, this little trade tiff between politicians won't damage our friendship.  But it is kind of a neat excuse to get to know what's available locally which, in the end, is pretty cool.  

(no affiliate links here, alas, I just like this stuff)