There’s a lot of desire these days to buy Canadian — and exactly what that term means is hotly debated — but finding Canadian products in the sports and outdoor industry can be tricky. This spring, Brainsport would like to introduce you to some Canadian companies whose products we carry in-store.
Today we hear from Norda co-founder and CEO Nick Martire as well as Julie Papineau, the company’s director of sales.
Norda, which launched in 2021, is a Quebec-based company that has become known for its lightweight performance trail running shoes. Though a Canadian company, it operates globally, sourcing materials from the United States and Europe and manufacturing shoes in China before shipping them to markets around the world. This spring’s flurry of tariffs and reciprocal tariffs have increased costs of manufacturing shoes and of importing them to American markets, which make up roughly a fifth of Norda’s sales.
BT: How has the ongoing trade war affected your business?
NM: How does it affect us as a Canadian business? Massively.
Although we are a Canadian brand, the majority of our footwear is made in China. It’s the best shoe-making place in the world. We are a global shoe; one of the components — Dyneema (the strong, light, water-resistant fibre used for the upper) — comes from the States. Our materials are woven in Europe because it’s the only place in the world that has that technology. And our shoe is assembled in China so it is a China-origin good. Other products like our T-shirts are made in Canada.
When the first 10% tariff came in (on goods coming into the United States from China), that’s something we could absorb, but then the next 10% tariff (on goods coming into the United States from China) came in. We were like: OK, we can still absorb, we’re not going to overreact.
And then these April 2 reciprocal tariffs came into place. What’s interesting about those is they leveled the playing field for us as a shoe company. We are manufacturing from China, but a lot of other shoe companies have moved some of their productions to Vietnam or Cambodia and those countries have been slapped with huge tariffs on products being imported into the United States. Their import costs are going to go up by 46 or 49% depending on the region. What are they going to do? All of a sudden, every shoe is unprofitable. So I think everyone is left with the situation of: Do we increase prices? Do we remove free shipping, because that covers additional costs. There’s a lot of different levers and I think it will have to be a combination of things.
How much are our costs going up? It’s a great question. The truth is we don’t know yet because the information is not clear.
At the end of the day, all imports from all companies — everyone in the running industry — is affected by this. There are no shoes that are made in Canada or the United States, or it’s insignificant. We just don’t have the technologies.
BT: What does this mean for Norda’s future plans?
NM: The majority of the growth potential is in the United States. It is the biggest market in the world — and we don’t have a U.S. operation today. The free trade between the countries was brilliant. But now that the free trade is closed, it’s quite crippling to us. The only way for us to get around it is to set up a U.S. operation. And that would apply probably to most Canadian companies.
JP: It’s advancing the process of what we were planning to do in a year or two from now and we’re still in discussion and meetings. Are we just stopping operations in the U.S.? Are we servicing what we have? Are we expanding? There are different scenarios.
BT: What does it mean today to be a Canadian company?
NM: We’re a Canadian company first. Norda — it’s in our name, it’s in our DNA — it means from the north. We’re very, very proudly Canadian. And we’ve always said as part of our business strategy that we have to be strong at home. If you are not loved at home, forget going anywhere else.
Being Canadian, we’re global citizens. Nothing against the U.S., but we just didn’t automatically think about the U.S. first. When we launched in 2021, the global market just pulled us.
BT: Have you seen an uptick in people trying to learn more about the brand domestically?
JP: I was just on a call with a retailer; she is Canadian and wants to work with Canadian brands. She’s going to stop working with some of the big players (in the running shoe industry) and is replacing the brands she’s going to support.
NM: A lot of companies are now putting a maple leaf symbol next to Canadian companies and supporting Canadian companies. There’s not many (running shoe companies) in Canada. The shoe business is a massive business, but it’s really not. It’s controlled by a few brands and historically always has been. The barrier to entry is very, very steep.
BT: What are you most looking forward to for the rest of 2025?
NM: We’re blessed because we’re still small and nimble.
Thirty per cent of Norda’s business today is in Asia. We are on fire in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan. There are run clubs there dedicated to Norda. There’s a lot of uncertainty, but there’s not. There’s a tremendous opportunity for all of us to set up new relationships or strengthen our other international relationships.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Learn more at nordarun.com or stop by Brainsport to try on some of Norda’s shoes. The company’s latest model, the 005 — which bills itself as a trail super shoe — hit shelves last month.
