539 Best Places to Shop in Canada

A must-stop spot for foodies looking to try hot- and cold-smoked fish and other seafood. The award-winning selection here includes salmon, mackerel, cod, trout, and tuna, some of it seasoned. Don’t miss trout rillettes, potted smoked salmon, and potted smoked lobster—all delicious on baguette slices. The “saumoscuitto” is a thinly sliced, firm textured version of smoked salmon, prepared in a similar way to prosciutto.

In the market at Les Halles Cartier, Aux Petits Délices has a large selection of specialty cheeses, along with crackers, charcuterie, and condiments for a picnic on the Plains.

Established in 1972, Bakka Phoenix has the distinction of being the world's oldest science fiction and fantasy bookstore. The shop is home to several thousand new and used titles, with the selection catering to readers of all ages. Knowledgeable staff members are always on hand to help find what you're looking for (or suggest something new).

This hushed secondhand bookshop has a tempting selection of coffee table–sized art and photography books, along with more luggage-friendly vintage paperback novels and plays, all denoted with Scrabble-tile signs. You may even spot some rare out-of-print treasures.

Bank Street spans several neighborhoods and has everything from stores offering bargain-basement prices to unique shops, boutiques, and antiques stores farther south in the Glebe and Ottawa South neighborhoods.

Bankers Hall has upscale clothing stores such as La Chic and Blu's.

This cute shop offers a creative take on '40s-style glamour and boho chic. Look for feminine clothing (dresses, dresses, and more dresses), jewelry, and bags—some by local designers—as well as vintage linens and decorative accessories.

This is the kind of shop that gives you a calm feeling when you walk in. A rustic gift shop offering home decor items, unique toys, gardening items, and a candy village with imported treats and sweets you'll remember from your childhood. Don't leave without trying their house-made fudge and ice creams.

Pottery, jewelry, paintings, and other crafts are made and sold in this shop in the converted soldiers' barracks of the Historic Garrison District, and there's a schedule of art and craft demonstrations.

Paul Wong, an artist and dealer from Vancouver, started this gallery, which is directly across the street from the Art Gallery of Ontario. The paintings and sculpture are a window into contemporary Canadian art, featuring both emerging and established artists. Just a few steps down at 324 Dundas Street West is Bau-Xi Photo, which shows Canadian and international fine art photography.

Maritime-designed clothing, pewter, and jewelry are among the crafts sold here. The adjoining coffee shop affords one of the best photo ops in Peggy's Cove, and the renovated red schoolhouse next door is a venue for summertime theater and concerts.

The gallery specializes in Canadian First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art, including paintings, stone sculptures, wood carvings, clay works, jewelry, craft, and gifts. Various exhibits are hosted throughout the year with artists in attendance on opening day.

Open since 1993, this upbeat boutique is the place to go for plush pillows, linens, and duvets from Designers Guild, which may inspire you to redesign your bedroom (if not your whole house). They also carry home decor articles, cookware and dinnerware, bath products, fragrances, and even clothing. Ask the friendly staff for guidance on the perfect gift.  Dogs are welcome here!

This popular health-food supermarket focuses on organic produce and a wide variety of grab-and-go foods. The surrounding mini-complex contains a juice bar; an outpost of local plant-based restaurant Fresh; a personal care section stocked with green beauty and skincare products; and a storefront devoted to vitamins and supplements.

One of Montréal's favorite boutiques, Billie has rows of bookcases, drawers, and shelves that give the feeling of raiding your best friend's closet. Look for chic dresses and blouses from Velvet, cozy sweaters from 360 Cashmere, and eclectic shoes by Inuikii. If you are shopping for kid sizes, visit Billie le Kid at 1001 avenue Laurier Ouest.

This wellness lifestyle boutique offers a charming, and sometimes surprising, selection of gifts, books, home decor items, and much more. 

The Canadian equivalent of Tiffany's (with its own version of the iconic blue box) has been selling diamond engagement rings, exquisite jewelry, and fine crystal since 1879. Recently renovated and redesigned and now part of the new Hôtel Birks, the luxury jewelry store contains partitioned boutiques within a larger boutique and sells items by brands such as Messika, Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex, Cartier, and Breitling, in addition to Birks' Collections. Even if diamonds or watches aren't on your shopping list, it's still worth a visit to the elegant new hotel and the seriously stunning Henri Brasserie Française (restaurant and bar lounge), serving French-inspired cuisine highlighting seasonal Québec and Canadian products ( www.restauranthenri.com).

An attractive small complex of shops, condos, and a marina, Bishop's Landing contains worth-a-peek jewelry, fashion, handmade candies and rum cakes, Halifax's best wine store, and other boutiques.

This Quebec-based company specializes in natural, cruelty-free, vegan, and eco-friendly beauty and skincare products. The welcoming, all-peach-pink flagship store on boulevard St-Laurent carries face, body, hair, and nail care products, including their much loved nail polishes, as well as beauty accessories.

Determined vintage buffs hunt through the racks of band T-shirts, faded jeans, worn shoes, and biker jackets in this unfinished upstairs warehouse-style location. It's also famous for its signature in-house screen-print tee designs.

Snag deals on classic books and new releases alike at this massive used bookstore (short for "Books Magazines Video"). With the selection spanning three levels and a basement, comics lovers, music fans, and memorabilia hounds will go home happy, too.

Named for the Boboli Gardens, this lavish space, complete with an atrium-like shoe department, focuses on high-end Italian labels for men and women, such as Valentino, Etro, and Giambattista Valli.

When Nicole Kidman wore one of this designer's zip denim dresses, Judith Desjardins's star was set. A proponent of slow fashion, Bodybag by Jude prioritizes quality, eco-friendly fabrics and designs made to last. Desjardins has a penchant for all things British, so look for tweeds and cheeky checks and plaids.

Chocolatiers here make truffles, cream-filled chocolates, spirit-spiked bonbons, chocolate-dipped ice cream in chocolate-dipped cones, and dark, white, and milk chocolate. Fancy cookies and custom cakes are sold, too.

This friendly independent bookstore has been serving the reading public for more than 30 years, with an excellent range of fiction, nonfiction, and local-interest books.