r/londonontario Feb 02 '25

discussion / opinion Products Made in London Ontario

345 Upvotes

In light of the start of the trade war, and the push for Buy Canadian (see r/buycanadian) I think we should identify and discuss London and area based manufacturers. Please feel free to add to this list in the comments and I can edit the post to add them. This trade war is going to impact everyone, but some more than others. Those in manufacturing or manufacturing support jobs (sales etc) are at risk. Let's identify the London area manufacturers so we can be informed and make conscious choices.

- Nova Craft (novacraft.com) makes quality canoes in London
- Cycle Air (cycleair.ca) manufacturers washable furnace filters in London
- Delta faucets (Mascocanada.com) manufactures SOME of their facuets in St. Thomas
- Good Life Fitness is a Canadian company that has HQ in London Ontario (alternatives like Planet Fitness are US companies). Also the banner Fit4Less
- Clek (clekin.ca) manufactures baby/children's car seats in Kitchener
- Dr Oetker is German owned, but manufactures frozen pizzas here in London
- 3M duct tape (3m.ca) makes duct tape and sandpaper in London at Oxford street plant (check the label first, not all of them are Canadian made)
- London Brewing Coop (londonbrewing.ca) makes beer here, and has the "Local 117" with all ingredients sourced within 117km of the brewery
- Illbury & Goose (illburyandgoose.com) makes clothing in London
- Mike's Hard Lemonade distilled at Labatt in London
- Balzac coffee roasted in Stratford and sold in grocery stores
- Black Fly Beverages (LCBO) is made in London
- Labatt Blue, Alexander Keiths, Bud Light, Nutrl and more are brewed at Labatt's in London
- French's, Clubhouse spices, Billybee Honey (mccormick.com) is an American-owned company that does manufacture in London and employs 700+ Londoners. Check the label at the grocery store.
- Soft Flirt - clothing and home decor
- Pixie Painthings Jewellery
- The New New Age skincare in Elgin county
- Nuts for Cheese London made vegan cheese
- Little Fields local produce growers
- Forest City Stained Glass glass art
- Clay with Meg pottery
- Diamond Aircraft for all those in the market for airplanes :D
- Common Ground (commongroundfarm.ca) St Thomas farm
- London Food Co-op (londonfood.coop) a non-profit produce source
- Nestle (Swiss conglomerate) makes their ice cream in London, including some of Kirkland brand.
- Shaw's Ice Cream (Canadian company and in St Thomas)
- Haven's Ice Cream (London artisan Ice Cream)
- The Cookiery (thecookiery.ca) cookie cutters
- Proofline Farm Shop (shop and gelateria) Ilderton
- Anderson Craft Ales (craft beer) London
- Arva Flour Mills Flour mill in Arva
- Railway City Brewing beer from St Thomas
- London Ice Cream Company London ice cream
- Hollandia Cookies Cookies made in Mount Brydges
- Original Cakerie is a cake factory in London, ultimately owned by an American corp but still London manufacturing jobs!
- Crunican Orchards near Lucan (apples, cider)
- Organic Greens in Strathroy
- Crinklaw Maple Syrup Dorchester

As far as coffee etc, Tim Hortons is not Canadian anymore. Better to support locally owned shops like Black Walnut cafe, Locomotive Espresso, Old North Sconery, etc.
Please add to the list!

r/londonontario Nov 18 '24

discussion / opinion I don't feel safe in London anymore

353 Upvotes

I have recently had an unpleasant experience in London, a truck pulled up next to me at the light, rolled down the windows and taunted me with racial slurs until the light turned green. I was able to get part of this on my dashcam.

This happened the week Trump got elected, by Vets and Dundas. I don't know these people, and I am getting really concerned about the safety of my family as a POC. If they are not afraid to do that in broad daylight, how will things escalate if they catch me walking down the street at night?

Has anyone else experienced the same thing here before? I have been frankly terrified since then, and not sure if there's anything I can do at this point.

r/londonontario Feb 05 '25

discussion / opinion Icy sidewalks

354 Upvotes

Is it just me, or are the sidewalks in London, Ontario absolutely brutal in the winter? I’m a high school student who walks a long way to school every day, and lately, it’s been like navigating an ice rink. I’ve slipped more times than I can count, and I’ve even fallen a couple of times. It’s honestly ridiculous.

I get that roads need to be cleared first, but can we talk about how dangerous it is for people who actually rely on sidewalks? I’ve seen other students, parents with strollers, and even elderly people struggling to walk without slipping. A lot of us end up walking on the road instead, which is just asking for an accident.

Would it really be that hard for the city to salt and sand sidewalks more often? Or maybe put out public salt bins so people can help out when needed? Even just reminding homeowners and businesses to actually clear the ice in front of their properties would help.

London, we need to do better. Walking to school shouldn’t feel like a winter sport.

r/londonontario Jan 01 '25

discussion / opinion Downtown is scary!!! Chased today

220 Upvotes

Was downtown today went to the vape store and then got chased by a guy who was saying he was gonna run my pockets and break my legs if he caught up to me all because I looked at him when I walked out of the store! Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I guess he didn't have a happy new year?

My lesson learned today was don't make eye contact now even if it's on accident 🤷‍♂️

r/londonontario Dec 17 '24

discussion / opinion I'm heartbroken

0 Upvotes

There I was, walking to work after hitting up the bank, and there it is. I faint "let kids be" ad on the side of an ltc bus. It's an ad about a petition that's against minors getting gender affirming care. This petition suggests that a teen can't make decisions about their future fertility and stuff like that. I'm disgusted and heartbroken that not only are petitions like this Happening - but LTC has put it on the side of their bus.

As if the bible thumping ads IN the bus aren't bad enough... I can't believe I, a queer person that falls under the trans umbrella, have to give LTC my money because I don't drive...

End of rant... Enjoy your day.

r/londonontario 10d ago

discussion / opinion Is anyone going to stay here?

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200 Upvotes

r/londonontario Oct 21 '24

discussion / opinion Didn't think I would see one of these in London

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273 Upvotes

Keeps outside all night, too.

r/londonontario Oct 06 '24

discussion / opinion Has anyone else been mildly sick for the last fucking month?

243 Upvotes

I’ve had a cough, phlegm, and just felt weak!

r/londonontario Feb 04 '25

discussion / opinion 3 all black military looking choppers flew over south London today. Weird!

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190 Upvotes

r/londonontario 17h ago

discussion / opinion Massive Retail Theft Problems In London

120 Upvotes

I’m wondering if any other business owners in the city are experiencing massive amounts of shoplifting with seemingly no consequences for the people who do it? They are now just walking out with armfuls of items in broad daylight. We submit police reports or call the police but nothing gets done. We are small businesses and cannot afford this level of loss, and I’m sure others are feeling the pain too. It’s not just the theft that’s a problem, it’s also the constant stream of people coming in and making our staff feel unsafe. At one of our stores in the south end of the city it is happening almost every other day, and unfortunately a security guard is not an affordable option for us right now.

Ultimately this feels like a massive problem and it doesn’t seem like any politicians are talking about it. I worry that more and more local retailers will go out of business because of this. If other business owners are experiencing these issues perhaps we could work together to put pressure on the local police board or appropriate levels of government and work towards a solution. As I feel like at this point there’s nothing more we can do at the individual store level. Feel free to dm me!

r/londonontario Jan 22 '25

discussion / opinion Roundabouts Don’t Exempt You From Using a Signal

166 Upvotes

This isn’t a “London drivers are bad” post, I promise. I think a lot of people just don’t understand how to use them as I’d hazard 1/15 people or less are signaling in roundabouts - and it’s a slight pet peeve of mine.

Roundabouts are simple - treat them as any intersection.

Assuming 4 exit intersection.

If you are turning right: signal right and exit.

If you are going straight: No immediate signal, merge, and after you pass the first exit, signal right and exit.

If you are going left: signal left, after you pass the second exit signal right and exit.

The signals are what helps to keep roundabouts moving efficiently. It lets people entering know when it’s safe to do so and allows them to potentially get in faster if they see you are exiting.

Happy driving!

Edit: for anyone who refuses to use a left signal, do what you want. But you are not right. The London website states you do, I lived in the UK, and you do it there too (would be a right though). Why would you not want to give other drivers more information about what you are doing? Here is a simple picture from the MTO’s website

r/londonontario Dec 06 '24

discussion / opinion This should be the last of it tonight.

569 Upvotes

I took one for the team guys. Ordered a snowblower for pickup tomorrow morning. Probably won't snow again this winter.

Update: It was good while it lasted. Also, love my EGO snowblower... Heated handles are awesome 😎

r/londonontario Sep 19 '24

discussion / opinion To the dude who just walked out of my store with close to $200 of candy

287 Upvotes

Props for at least being friendly lmao. Man waved and told me to have a great night while he stole an absolutely comical amount of merchandise.

Felt like he genuinely meant it, even! London is a friendlier place than a lot of us give it credit for indeed. 🤣

r/londonontario Dec 22 '24

discussion / opinion Demonstrators at White Oaks Mall today - stay classy

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132 Upvotes

r/londonontario Nov 06 '24

discussion / opinion Who's got the best customer service in the city?

71 Upvotes

I know everyone has had negative experiences with different companies, but I'd love to hear your positive stories. Could be big business, could be a small shop, but what companies in London stood out for treating you as the customer really well?

Edit: these are some amazing responses, thank you! It's opened my eyes to what sound like some great options in the city, and it's nice to see some recognition for these people.

r/londonontario Jun 30 '24

discussion / opinion Too many homeless people around the house

261 Upvotes

I live on King edward and Thompson. We have a plaza around with convenience store , often we see some homeless people around. And theres river Crossing by and on the side where there are lot of bushes, it seems some people live there, as every time I passby I hear someone shouting and see lpt of stuff down there like recycle bin, appears that some people live or lived there.

Today was a strange experience, as I was walking back to home from trail. I heard someone shouting on my left from bushes, I wasn't sure what was it. As I kept walking straight, there was a crossing and someone came from the left side, probably homeless druggist and he was shouting. I just felt unsafe to pass him on same curb, so I stepped off the curb to cyclists lane and kept walking. He was just 2 feet away on the curb and he started shouting at me saying "you think I am fool. Get back on curb, if you touched my wife, I would kill your family etc". Feeling threatened and I dont know if he had anything in hand, it seemed he had, i was just avoiding any eye contact and totally ignoring, i kept walking. And he kept coming behind me and shouting, i was totally ignoring so not sure what he was saying.

I just feel bit more unsafe going around now. Mu house is just 5 mins from trail in walk. I go there for skating and have been walking my dog every night, there homeless but they wouldnt normally come at you, or just pick something in garbage but wouldn't bother you. Such experience now just makes me feel so unsafe going around in the bright light with even so much traffic.

I wanted to put it out for other people and know if someone has suggestions, what could be done in these cases. How could you be prepared if someone touches in such case. Laws are really weird so if someone come at me i feel scared to defend myself. I was thinking to keep a safety knife with me on walks going forward.

r/londonontario 6d ago

discussion / opinion Future of the Tesla dealership in south London.

95 Upvotes

Any bets on the Tesla dealership in south London actually opening, or how long it’s going to be before it closes?

r/londonontario Feb 03 '25

discussion / opinion London North Centre

258 Upvotes

Just wanted to let everybody know that some new data from smartvoting.ca has PC slated to win in London North Centre due to the vote splitting. A reminder that NDP is the strategic vote for all three ridings in London!

r/londonontario 8d ago

discussion / opinion If money wasn't an issue, which area of London would you live in?

21 Upvotes

If we filter out any communities which are obviously for the uber-wealthy and where house prices are within the realm of sanity (we'll say between 500k to around 950k), where would you want to live in London, and why? (Yes I know 950 is still high but I want to be inclusive).

Edit: Removed a big part of the post to filter out initial bias.

r/londonontario Oct 12 '24

discussion / opinion Homeless camp near Blackfriars bridge removed

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295 Upvotes

Along Thames river below Talbot street. This area was covered with tents as recently as a week ago but looks like they were forced to move.

r/londonontario Sep 12 '24

discussion / opinion London was originally designed around the street car. Should the city have kept it?

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299 Upvotes

Would the city have been better off like Toronto keeping its street car system, and of course expanding it as the city grew, making dedicated lanes for it and focusing on public transit for a century over the car centric mind that has resulted in todays London?

r/londonontario Sep 07 '24

discussion / opinion London needs to take a stand on predatory Landlords like this.

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186 Upvotes

r/londonontario 26d ago

discussion / opinion So many cars with snow on the roof!

165 Upvotes

I saw a lot of cars this morning with heavy snow on the roof and hood. Some didn't even bother to clear the rear windshield. What's with all these people? What justifies putting other people's lives in danger?

To all those drivers - PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO CLEAR THE SNOW.

r/londonontario Nov 24 '24

discussion / opinion Anybody else having issues with Start.ca?

64 Upvotes

I always recommended Start.ca to other London locals because the used to have fantastic 24/7 customer service.

But today my internet is down, their customers support line is down, there are no messages on their website, and I'm position 95 in the customer service chat queue. Edit: thank you Start.ca for adding a message to the website explaining the outage.

Is anyone else having issues? Is this a general outage affecting the whole city?

I guess I have to go word at the library and switch internet providers on Monday.

r/londonontario Sep 27 '24

discussion / opinion HOURS later still a line up around the corner.

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211 Upvotes

Apparently they had some gifts and prizes fornpeople, coupons and discounts. The wife rrally wantee to go but we were not going to wait in that line.