About Ocanova
Ocanova offers a dedicated and secure space for Canadian businesses to feature their products directly to Canadian and international consumers. Any purchase made on our transactional platform will mean that the customer is supporting a Canadian business like yours. Unlike platforms that support international sellers, we focus on fostering national support by giving Canadian manufacturers, distributors, importers, and individual sellers an easy way to manage their sales and thrive online!
The design of the Ocanova logo is steeped in purpose. Here is the thinking that inspired its creation.
The letters "OCAN" are short for "O Canada", our national anthem, which reminds us of our patriotism, pride, and love for Canada.
"CAN", the abbreviation for Canada, is in red, which distinguishes it from the other black letters in the logo. The analogy is that Canada stands out from the rest of the world for its culture, inclusion, quality of life, and freedom.
The abbreviation "CAN" is also in red to reflect the color of our Canadian flag and to foreshadow our patriotic movement with the words "WE CAN"!
The inclusion of the Canadian flag within the "O" signifies our identity as a Canadian company, whose mission is to serve and support Canadian businesses.
We included the word "NOVA" because it signifies "new" and is also the astronomical term for a new, bright star that suddenly appears in the sky with a burst of powerful energy. We built this platform to be a powerful and brilliant new resource.
The colours blue and yellow were also included in our logo because they are prominent colours across many Canadian provincial and territorial flags. These colours reflect our connection to the rich heritage and diverse landscape of Canada.
Our logo also features a dynamic blue arc around the Canadian flag that symbolizes our network reaching businesses from coast to coast.
There are two business-oriented directors that drive Ocanova. The senior director and president is Norman Roy and the junior director and vice-president is Mathieu Stevenson.
Norman Roy
With more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, he has built a business that evolved from a single retail store in the early 2000s, into a wholesale distributorship with sales locations across Quebec and Ontario. Upon selling his business fifteen years later, he transitioned into the commercial real estate sector, focusing on investments while also pursuing several smaller projects. A focused, ambitious, and hardworking professional, his business expertise lies in commodity importation, distribution logistics, marketing and business development. As the initial driving force behind the Ocanova project, he is determined to make it a successful venture. His vision is to create the ultimate online national marketplace for all Canadians, thereby helping local businesses to prosper.
Mathieu Stevenson
Ocanova was co-founded by an individual with a quarter-century of experience as a technical and marketing consultant, known for consistently increasing business profits and providing vital technical expertise for web systems. This diverse background, further enhanced by work as a real estate marketing strategist, led to the creation of Ocanova: a new, reliable Canadian-only platform. The marketplace is designed to securely connect verified Canadian entrepreneurs with consumers, building on the founder's comprehensive expertise to promote and grow this new venture.
Ocanova was established to empower Canadian businesses and support the national economy by offering a streamlined, secure, and intuitive e-commerce platform. Its mission is to build a loyal customer base by aligning with Canadian values and the "buy local" movement, aiming to be the leading online destination for products made and/or sold by Canadian merchants.
The "buy local" movement in Canada has gained significant and potentially long-term momentum, driven by a blend of economic nationalism, a desire to support local communities, and a preference for Canadian-made goods perceived to be safe and of quality.
Key Trends and Statistics:
High Consumer Priority
A vast majority of Canadians (91%) state they are prioritizing Canadian products when shopping. As of May 2025, 84% of Canadians said it was important to buy local products, a 12-point increase from 2024.
Willingness to Pay a Premium
Many Canadians are willing to pay more for Canadian products. One poll found 70% would pay a significant premium for a Canadian product.
Economic Impact
The movement has had a tangible effect, with small and medium-sized Canadian retailers reporting a 10% to 25% increase in sales. Every dollar spent locally helps strengthen the community tax base and supports domestic jobs.
Shifting Behavior
Over 78% of Canadians have actively shifted at least one monthly purchase from a big-box or international retailer to a local Canadian business. This suggests a concrete change in shopping habits, not just a fleeting sentiment.
Information Gap
Despite the strong desire to buy local, there is often confusion about which products and brands are truly Canadian. All products on Ocanova will be properly identified, whether they are Products of Canada, Made in Canada, or imported products.
Overall, the "buy local" movement is a powerful and potentially lasting force that is reshaping the Canadian retail landscape and influencing consumer choices across the country. Driven by this vision, our platform was established exclusively for Canadian businesses to engage with Canadian and international consumers.
Our mission is to cultivate a thriving environment for Canadian businesses, while simultaneously establishing our website as the premier Canadian destination for online shoppers seeking to purchase a broad range of products from Canadian vendors.
4% Ocanova Rewards Program
Our 4% cashback program serves as a powerful incentive that helps drive customer retention and platform loyalty. By encouraging shoppers to return to our site, this program creates valuable opportunities to help boost your overall sales.
Dedicated Canadian Marketplace
Since our platform is Canadian-oriented, only Canadian businesses will be allowed to become vendors on our platform. This strategy resonates strongly with Canadian consumers and helps build a loyal customer base eager to support your local business.
Product Identification
Each product's country of origin and material content are clearly displayed once you click on the item.
- Product of Canada (Requires at least 98% of Canadian content. This includes the ingredients, processing and labour)
- Made in Canada (Requires at least 51% of Canadian content. May include imported ingredients, but processing and labour is in Canada)
- Assembled in Canada (Assembled in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Canned in Canada (Canned in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Designed in Canada (Designed in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Distilled and bottled in Canada (Distilled and bottled in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Engineered in Canada (Engineered in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Packaged in Canada (Packaged in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Prepared in Canada (Prepared in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Processed in Canada (Processed in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Produced in Canada (Produced in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Published in Canada (Published in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Refined in Canada (Refined in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Roasted and blended in Canada (Roasted and blended in Canada but is not made in Canada)
- Imported from (country of origin)
Tailored Menus
Our website features menus allow customers to filter products by their origin, specifically those made in Canada, within a specific province, or domestic and imported products shipped from a specific province. This means Ocanova shoppers can easily find your products, regardless of whether they are domestic or imported.
Vendor Identification
Every product listing clearly displays your identity, location, and shipping policy. A dedicated button is also included on the page to let customers instantly explore your full product catalogue.
Faster, Reliable Domestic Delivery
To ensure a reliable marketplace, we require all vendors to maintain and ship inventory from within Canada. This local fulfillment policy eliminates cross-border complications, allowing you to provide our customers with faster, more dependable delivery times.
Huge Exposure
Thanks to our major advertising campaign, you will gain unparalleled visibility, which will substantially enhance your chances of making more sales! Our advertising campaign will also persist over time to drive more website visits and add new customers daily.
Less Competition
We proactively manage our vendor base to ensure your products are highly visible to our engaged customer community. Join a marketplace where your business has room to grow, with less competition and more focused customer traffic. Unlike larger, more crowded marketplaces, our platform does not allow vendors from other countries to sell their products on our website. By ensuring a fair playing field and mitigating vendors with a competitive edge, this strategy serves to optimize competitive dynamics for your business.
Targeted Market
Supporting Canadian businesses helps build a more resilient economy that can withstand external pressures and economic fluctuations. The fact that many Canadian citizens are changing their buying habits and willing to support Canadian vendors, Ocanova becomes the perfect partner for your business.
Low-cost for New Customer Acquisition
Reach millions of Ocanova customers actively seeking your products, all for a fraction of traditional advertising costs. Combined with our vast visibility, our minimal fees and low commission structure are designed to maximize your profits and ensure the success of your business.
Expand Market Reach
If you are currently not selling your products online, a physical store is limited to local foot traffic. Ocanova allows you to sell to customers anywhere in the world, dramatically increasing your potential customer base. Ocanova can significantly help your business by expanding your reach and providing you with a 24/7 digital storefront with a global presence.
Effortless API integration
With a single click from your Shopify store, you can seamlessly have us feature
and professionally display your products on Ocanova with zero additional effort
on your part.
Seamless Vendor Store Synchronization
While your products are featured on Ocanova, your products, inventory, and orders are synchronized with your Shopify Store.
Customer Reviews
Our customer review feature empowers users to share their experiences directly on your product pages. This tool is designed to elevate your brand’s credibility, provide actionable insights for product refinement, and ultimately accelerate your sales growth.
Getting Started
Yes. By invitation or application, joining Ocanova is entirely FREE. Secure your place among our curated selection of vendors and unlock immediate access to an expanding audience of high-intent buyers. With no upfront investment or membership fees, our success is tied directly to yours—you only pay a Platform Profit Margin fee when you secure a sale.
To feature your products on Ocanova, a Vendor must have a Shopify account. While owning a Shopify storefront or webpage is optional, an active Shopify account is required to receive payments through the Shopify ecosystem and to upload product images, descriptions and pricing policies.
If you do not already have an account with Shopify, please open one here.
Acceptance to our platform as a Vendor is contingent upon meeting a series of rigorous vendor compliance requirements. Vendors must comply with all requirements listed below.
1. Canadian Company Requirement: Being a Canadian-exclusive platform, Ocanova only accepts vendors that are 100% Canadian-owned and operated, as well as headquartered and legally registered in Canada. Having a Canadian-based headquarters is a requirement, even if the company operates offices or warehouses in Canada.
2. All Vendor Merchandise Must be Stored in Canada: Inventory from all Vendors must be stored and shipped from a Canadian warehouse, including Vendors that sell imported products. Vendors who rely on third-party, international drop-shipping services will not be permitted on our platform, however drop-shipping within Canada is permitted.
Below are the specific restrictions for each business structure:
· Manufacturers: Manufacturing from Canadian or imported raw materials. The headquarters and factory must be in Canada.
· Wholesalers or distributors: Distributing Canadian or imported goods. The headquarters must be in Canada, and all goods must be shipped from Canada.
· Retailers: Selling Canadian or imported goods. The headquarters must be in Canada, and all goods must be shipped from Canada.
· Importers: Selling imported goods. Vendors selling imported goods are required to have their company headquarters in Canada. All inventory must be stored and shipped from a Canadian warehouse. Vendors who rely on third-party, international drop-shipping services will not be permitted on our platform, however drop-shipping within Canada is permitted.
· Individual sellers: Selling Canadian or imported goods. The place of business must be in Canada, and all goods must be shipped from Canada.
3. Shopify Account: A Vendor must have a Shopify account. While owning a Shopify storefront or webpage is optional, an active Shopify account is required to receive payments through the Shopify ecosystem and to upload product images, descriptions and pricing policies.
4. Vendor Age: The majority owner of the Vendor’s business must be at least 18 years old to use the Ocanova platform.
5. Brand Integrity: Vendors are required to have a professional brand image, characterized by high-resolution product photography and comprehensive product descriptions.
Ocanova focusses on fostering national support by giving Canadian manufacturers, distributors, retailers, importers, and individual sellers an easy way to manage their sales and thrive online.
Below are the types of businesses that we accept on Ocanova.
· Manufacturers: Manufacturing from Canadian or imported raw materials.
· Wholesalers or distributors: Distributing Canadian or imported goods.
· Retailers: Selling Canadian or imported goods.
· Importers: Selling imported goods.
· Individual sellers: Selling Canadian or imported goods.
Yes. To qualify, your business must be legally registered, headquartered, and store inventory within Canada. We accept premium products from domestic and international origins, but prioritize visibility for local fulfillment. To support this, "Made in Canada" items are featured in an exclusive Made in Canada menu. We also provide a provincial shipping menu for domestic and imported items, allowing buyers to support local businesses by filtering products dispatched from their specific province.
To ensure the integrity of our platform, our certification process includes a thorough review of your business documents. We use the information provided to confirm your business is legally registered in Canada, operates from a Canadian headquarters, and is Canadian-owned. We also perform specific verifications regarding product shipping origins.
Failure to meet all these criteria will result in the denial of the vendor application.
Registration is simple:
1. To feature your products on Ocanova, you must have a Shopify account. While owning a Shopify storefront or webpage is optional, an active Shopify account is required to receive payments through the Shopify ecosystem and to upload product images, descriptions and pricing policies.
2. If you do not already have an account with Shopify, please open one here.
3. After setting up your Shopify account, please submit a request to feature your products on the Ocanova and complete the Become a Vendor form.
4. Following approval, a welcome email will be sent detailing the necessary next steps and operational procedures.
5. After your product details (images, descriptions, etc.) are uploaded to your Shopify account, they will be imported onto the Ocanova platform while always remaining securely within the Shopify ecosystem.
Fees, Payments and Taxes
Vendors on the Ocanova platform do NOT pay commission or monthly fees for featuring their products on our website. Instead, the partnership between Ocanova (the Platform) and the Vendor is based on values defined below.
1. Platform Margin Values
Vendor Selling Price: This represents the wholesale price at which the vendor sells products to Ocanova. The vendor sets the wholesale price for every item featured on Ocanova, which is the exact amount Shopify will automatically disburse once an item has been sold and successfully shipped.
For example, if a product is sold at a retail price is $100 and the Vendor sets a 10% margin (Platform Profit Margin) for that specific product, the Vendor Selling Price to Ocanova is $90. The $90 payment will automatically be transferred to the Vendor’s Shopify Payments balance account via the Shopify ecosystem. The Platform Profit Margin ($10) will be sent to Ocanova’s Shopify Payments balance.
Platform Profit Margin: This is the percentage of the retail price that Ocanova retains when a sale is made. When applying to become an official Ocanova Vendor, Vendors offer Ocanova an average Platform Margin for all their products in exchange for product placement and premium visibility on our platform. Each product can have a different Platform Profit Margin.
2. Other Fees: Shipping fees determined by the Vendor will also be sent to the Vendor’s Shopify Payments balance account.
To simplify the Vendor’s experience, Ocanova covers all credit and debit card processing fees for customer sales made via Shopify Payments.
Shopify manages the entire payment process. Ocanova never handles the funds, meaning we cannot delay, withhold, or reverse any payments. All control over transfers to the Vendor Shopify Payments balance account rests solely with Shopify.
Enabling Automatic Payments automates the payout process directly through the Vendor’s Shopify account. This system removes manual invoicing by automatically splitting sales revenue between Ocanova and the Vendor. We have further customized the Shopify ecosystem to streamline both payments and the organization of products into Ocanova Collections.
How the Money Moves
When a customer completes a purchase on Ocanova, we collect the full retail price, shipping charges, and the customer sales taxes. Shopify then automatically splits the funds between Ocanova and the Vendor.
· Ocanova's Share: Ocanova keeps the difference between the retail price and the Vendor's Selling Price.
· Vendor's Share: The Vendor Selling Price, shipping charges and appropriate taxes on the Vendor Selling Price and shipping charges (if not exempt) are automatically debited from the Ocanova's Shopify Payments balance and sent to the Vendor’s Shopify Payments balance account.
· Trigger for Payout: Shopify holds these funds until the order is fulfilled, at which point they are released to the Vendor's Shopify Payments balance.
All transactions are subject to federal (GST) and provincial (PST) sale taxes, unless exempt from paying such taxes.
Ocanova acts as the seller of record, therefore we collect sales tax directly from the customer at checkout and handle all remittances to the appropriate tax authorities.
When a Vendor provides a tax ID in Shopify, the system automatically triggers a tax charge on the Vendor Selling Price of each order. This tax and the Vendor Selling Price is debited from the Ocanova Shopify Payments balance account and paid directly to the Vendor during the payout process.
Vendors can use their Shopify payout history to track all transactions, including the Vendor Selling Price and any taxes charged to Ocanova.
If you are exempt from payment of such Taxes, you must provide us with evidence of your exemption, which in some jurisdictions includes an original certificate that satisfies applicable legal requirements attesting to tax-exempt status. Your tax-exempt status is effective from the date we receive your satisfactory documentation. If you are not charged Taxes by us, you are responsible for determining if Taxes are payable, and if so, self-remitting Taxes to the appropriate tax authorities in your jurisdiction.
You are solely responsible for determining, collecting, withholding, reporting, and remitting applicable taxes, duties, fees, surcharges and additional charges that arise from or because of any sale on Ocanova.
If Price Syncing is enabled in your Shopify account, any updates you make to the retail price will automatically reflect on the Ocanova platform. This applies to any price changes, including temporary promotional discounts or permanent retail price increases.
Automatic Recalculation: The Vendor’s Selling Price is automatically updated to reflect the new retail price while maintaining the agreed Platform Profit Margin.
If a customer initiates a payment dispute (also known as a chargeback) or any other customer-related purchase issue, Ocanova will investigate the issue with the customer. A chargeback is a dispute initiated by a customer through their bank or credit card issuer.
How we manage a dispute:
1. Customer contact: We will contact the customer directly. Ocanova will contact the customer via email or telephone to discuss the dispute, as it may be based on a simple misunderstanding.
2. Vendor contact: After the information has been gathered from the customer, the Vendor will receive an email or telephone call from Ocanova. This notice will include the reason for the dispute, which dictates the type of evidence the Vendor should submit.
3. Vendor evidence compilation: The Vendor must gather all relevant documentation related to the dispute's specific reason. Providing thorough documentation will significantly increase the chances of a successful outcome.
· Proof of delivery: Provide tracking numbers, the shipping carrier's name, and proof of delivery confirmation.
· Product description: Supply screenshots or pictures of the product as it was described in your product description to counter "product not as described" claims.
· Customer communication: If any, the Vendor must include copies of any emails, chat logs, or support tickets to show attempts to resolve the issue
4. Mediation: After receiving the documentation from the Vendor, Ocanova will contact the customer to reach a resolution.
5. Vendor Authorization: If the vendor approves a refund or return, the Vendor must first authorize it before the funds are transferred back to Ocanova. Once Ocanova receives those funds, they are then issued to the customer.
6. No resolution: If no resolution is found, Ocanova will review all evidence provided by both parties to reach a fair conclusion. Ocanova reserves the right to terminate a Vendor’s account if we determine their conduct during a dispute was unfair or exploitative toward the customer.
7. Evidence submission: We will submit the gathered evidence to the credit card issuer for review. If the dispute is resolved in our favour, the issuer will reimburse Ocanova for the contested amount.
How to prevent disputes
· Provide accurate product descriptions and images: Detailed product information and high-quality pictures can prevent "not as described" disputes.
· Communicate effectively with Ocanova: Vendors must send Ocanova email notifications with updates on any delays or any other problems with customer orders.
· Issue a shipping tracking number: All shipment of orders must be followed by a tracking number.
· Display clear policies: the Vendor must ensure that the shipping, return, and cancellation policies are easy for customers to understand.