Top Canadian Brands: Which Influencers Are Within Our Borders?

Look around you, at your desk, your computer, inside your bag -- how many of the brands you rely upon daily come from Canada? The answer is probably far outweighed by the number coming from the U.S., as a recent study showed.

A representative sample of 1,000 Canadians were asked in an Ipsos survey which brands most influenced their lives, and only two of the top 10 answers came from Canadian companies: President's Choice (at number three) and CBC (at number six).

"When we look at the top 10 and we reflect on them, it most certainly made sense that there were some brands that were Canadian icons," says Steve Levy, President of Market Research. "These are brands that have been part of our culture, part of our fabric for a long time."

But even once ubiquitous brand BlackBerry slipped to number 14, and stores like Walmart and Ikea beat out easily recognized Canucks like Shoppers Drug Mart and Canadian Tire.

Levy noted the study examined consumers' relationships to things like innovation, relevance, presence and trust relationships, which lead to the tally.

"Because it's difficult to generate influence, time would be a factor," he explained. "Look at [number one trusted brand] Microsoft -- that's the first software company that first brought software to the masses. So while it's impressive that Facebook is the number seven most influential brand after only seven years, there is something to be said for consistency."

The Huffington Post Canada took a look at the Ipsos list of 100 brands, and sussed out which among these are Canadian -- that is, owned in majority by Canadians, with offices based here. Do you agree that this list makes up our influencers? Let us know at @HuffPostCaLiv, or in the comments below.

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