I’ve always believed that Canada is a country of builders.

We don’t always make a big deal about it, but we have this quiet, determined way of solving problems. We innovate, we adapt, and we find workarounds when things don’t go as planned. But for all that resourcefulness, we don’t seem to own what we create.

And that’s starting to feel like a problem to people like me.

Every time a crisis hits – whether it’s supply chain disruptions, economic downturns, or, as we are currently dealing with it, looming tariffs – there’s a familiar call: buy Canadian. It sounds right. It feels patriotic. But then reality sets in. What, exactly, are we buying? Canada is largely a service economy. We export raw materials, we broker deals, we manage logistics – but when it comes to producing finished goods, we’re heavily reliant on other countries. Even the things we do make require parts that come from somewhere else.

I don’t say this to criticize, but to ask an honest question: What happens when we don’t have a choice? It’s not about cutting ourselves off from the world – trade is essential – but about making sure we have the capacity to stand on our own when we need to. If we can’t build quickly, pivot easily, or scale independently, then, let’s be honest, we’re at the mercy of decisions made outside our borders.

And that brings me to something deeper. It’s not just about manufacturing or self-sufficiency – it’s also about how we treat the people who actually build things. The entrepreneurs, the engineers, the designers, the problem-solvers. We love to celebrate them in theory, but in practice, we don’t always make it easy for them. Access to capital is tough. Scaling a business is harder than it should be. Regulations can be stifling, and our appetite for risk is often low.

Other countries have figured this out. As an example, Germany has its Mittelstand – small and mid-sized manufacturers that fuel its economy. As a part of their commitment to their builders, they continue to make deliberate investments in high-tech and high-precision production. They didn’t just talk about supporting their builders, they made sure they had what they needed to succeed.

Canada could do the same. We have the talent. We have the resources. What we need is the will to create, not just extract. To own, not just facilitate. To build, not just assemble. We have to stop thinking of resilience as just weathering the storm and start thinking of it as having the ability to create our own solutions when the storm comes.

So when people say buy Canadian, I don’t disagree.

I just think we need to take it a step further. Let’s build Canadian. Let’s own Canadian. And let’s make sure that when we solve problems, we do it in a way that actually strengthens our ability to confront the next one. Because if we don’t, we’ll keep having this same conversation – only next time, with the risk of even fewer options left on the table.