By: Asha Mullings, December 13 2023
Shop Small Business, Make Big Impact
The end of the year is home to many holidays across cultures. No matter what you celebrate, the spirit of the season kicks in, making us all feel a longing to connect with our loved ones. Even if you aren’t observing a cultural event you may still feel the need to celebrate and gift your family, friends and co-workers during these next few months. If you’re looking for new gift ideas or having trouble shopping for a certain type look no further than our Startup Holiday Gift Guide. Supported by Interac, our partner in innovation, the gift guide is a curated collection of products and services from Canadian startups.
Check out our curated Startup Holiday Gift Guide, full of small businesses and startups from Canada’s tech and innovation ecosystem.
Gifts for the Foodie
Eat Impact: Eat Impact works with farmers and distributors to curate a weekly selection of perfectly fresh imperfect and surplus fruit and veg and deliver it to your doorstep to fight food waste and help you save money. Offering: Produce Boxes (mixed box, all veg, all fruit, all organic). Use code ELEVATE25 for 25% off first order!
Easy Peasy Pancakes: Delicious buttermilk pancakes made with simple ingredients and powered by plant-based protein – it’s easy peasy! Offering: Fluffy and delicious buttermilk pancakes. Just add water, shake and cook. Packed with plant-based protein and ready in minutes. We make them from scratch so you don’t have to. Use code ELEVATE15 for 15% off your total purchase until Jan 31, 2024.
CC Spicy: We are a Canadian WOC-owned company with a mission to revolutionize the chili oil industry. Our focus is on using non-seed oils and clean ingredients in our products. We exclusively use olive and avocado oils. Offering: Our world’s first garlic-free Avocado Chili Oil, paired with our award-winning Garlic Chili Oil. They are free from salt, sugar, MSG, nuts, and sodium. Additionally, they are gluten-free, keto-friendly, and suitable for vegans. Use code holiday10off to enjoy 10% off this holiday season.
Cooks Who Feed: Ethically produces kitchen textiles with a give-back model, providing meals to alleviate hunger. Our flagship product, our handcrafted canvas aprons, provides 100 meals for every apron sold. All our textiles are handmade in India where we provide safe, fair trade work to marginalized women. Use code WELCOME5 for 5% off!
Gifts for the Go Getter
MGear: Brings a unique approach to wearable technologies, developing new products with embedded features designed for modern urban and active lifestyles, focused on minimalist designs, practical tools and multi-functionality with exceptional customization options and product expandability. Offering: MGear’s Gadget Wallet 3.0. The world’s most innovative and customizable wallet. What makes the Gadget Wallet 3.0 genuinely unique is that you can customize its look with different colors, it can be personalized with your own image or custom text and interchange many functional tools. A fantastic unique holiday gift! Use code mgearxmas15 for a store-wide discount.
The Aesthetics Studio: Is an eco-conscious sticker and stationery brand founded by Hannah Wang in 2020. We offer a large variety of gift items perfect for the stationery-lover! You can shop our products on our website or Etsy. We also offer wholesale through Faire for retailers. Offering: sticker sheets, bookmarks, greeting cards, decorative magnets, washi tapes, reusable sticker books, lanyards and more! Use code WINTER10 for 10% off all stickers.
Untangle Money: Creates custom financial plans for the everyday Canadian woman. We are getting the best decisions making tool in the purses of women. Our mission is to get a financial plan into the hands of every woman in the world, starting with one million women in our backyard, Canada, in the next 4 years. Offering: Customized financial plans to everyday Canadian women! Since a lot of these women have partners, we work with a lot of couples. The Untangle MINI financial plan enables the couple to have the same framework and language to talk about day-to-day money and long term money goals. It’s a powerful experience. The international Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards recognised the Untangle MINI as runner up in the best fintech prototype category!
Gifts for the Stylish
Sol Kyst: 🕶️ Find your fit and let’s get you Kyst 🕶️ Truly size inclusive eyewear for everyone. Designed to fit & flatter by our founder, Meghan Victoria. With 300+ 5 Star Reviews, our glasses have now shipped to 40+ countries. Offering: Sunglasses, Blue Light Glasses, and Glasses accessories.
Musey: Musey, a Social Enterprise, collaborates with artists and craftspeople in Sri Lanka to champion fair trade and sustainability. Our curated collection of luxury handmade products reflects our commitment to global impact. Reinvesting 50% of profits, we empower communities through growth capital, learning initiatives, and sustainable development projects. Welcome to community-sourced elegance. Offerings: FLY offers luxury, culturally inspired clothing from Sri Lanka, prioritizing sustainability. Lasanthi’s limited edition clutches and handmade earrings reflect island vibes and elegance. The heavy-duty Handbag™ is a chic, ethically sourced accessory with positive messages. Roll-n-Clean Pet Ball, bone and stick twist, and Kocoocti by Kocoplay promote dental health and lively play for fur babies.
Luna Lab Nails: Gives you a perfect, non-damaging manicure in minutes and these on-trend nails can be removed and reapplied with proper care! Wear them for a week straight or a few days at a time – you decide. Offering: Hand painted press on nails. Use code ELEVATE25 for 25% your order until Dec 31st.
Casa Lovina: Ethical lifestyle brand from Bali, Toronto and beyond. Offering: handmade jewelry, accessories and handbags.
Gifts for the Wellness Lover
Everyday Chemist: By combining curiosity, industry expertise, and a commitment to craftsmanship, we design multi-functional products that deliver on their promises, formulated with only the finest ingredients. Offering: “Lip Grease” – Hydrating Lip Balm / “Silky Water” – Moisturizing Body Serum : Refreshing seawater and nourishing oils come together in a single dose of double hydration for skin that is dewy and silky smooth to the touch. Use code ELEVATE’ for 20% Off.
Mintier: Is an oral wellness company bringing fresh breath into daily beauty routines, starting with the first-ever breath serum. Offering: Mintier Breath Serum – The first-ever no sugar, and no sugar alcohol serum for your mouth. A healthier alternative to breath mints and breath fresheners, formulated with natural ingredients that are good for your mouth and good for your gut. Use code ELEVATE10 for 10% off.
First Love: A South Asian owned brand that aspires to make luxurious haircare more accessible to people in an effort to encourage prioritizing self love and wellness. Haircare is deeply rooted in the South Asian community as the ultimate symbol of beauty. Both Navina and Sharuka grew up in Canada, and understand the North American standard of luxury. Offering: Silk lined baseball caps, durable yet eco-friendly clawclips, versatile and adjustable silk headbands and a variety of silk scrunchies. They are in the process of working on more hair care products that will tie with these products. Use code ELEVATE25 for 25% off.
Heal In Colour: is a wound care company that focuses on providing the highest quality of black and brown adhesive bandages, made from premium materials, at a competitive price. Our focus is to create an overall better healing experience by offering latex free, flexible fabric bandages with an absorbent center in three signature shades, Honey, Almond and Chestnut. Use code ELEVATE for 15% off.
Glow Ritual: Their philosophy intertwines the essence of wellness with a modern twist. At its heart, Glow Ritual is more than a fragrance brand; it’s an experience, a daily rite that infuses life with zest and mindfulness. Each scent is a carefully crafted symphony of natural elements, from invigorating spices that awaken the senses to soothing botanicals that calm the soul. Embracing sustainability and ethical sourcing, Glow Ritual connects its wearers to the earth, empowering them to radiate confidence and positivity. Offering: Travel inspired natural fragrance that elevates ordinary moments.
This holiday season, support small business and stay in control of your spending when you shop with INTERAC Debit. In supporting these local businesses you help to stimulate growth in the Canadian entrepreneurial ecosystem! Before placing your order make sure to view the shipping details to ensure that your gifts arrive on time for your holiday/occasion.
To learn more about how Elevate supports Canadian innovation check out our programs at Elevate.ca.
Happy Holidays!
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