Ah yes, the winter holidays – joyful, chaotic, and full of last-minute shopping. To ease the stress of gift giving this holiday season, we’ve put together a list of sustainable local shops to support within Ontario. All you have to do is sit back, pick a category, and shop away!
P.S. Our Gifts for Everyone category includes some amazing volunteer and non-profit opportunities as well!
Gifts for Kids
- Early Bird & Worm: A unique selection of ethically made fashion, accessories, toys and décor. Fun, fashion and function!
- Kids Swag: A curated boutique of amazing brands with mindful representation.
- Mini Mioche: Local, ethical, organic, sustainable soft and comfy basics.
- Giftolini: Affordable and practical gift baskets for kids, handpicked by a mom of two.
- Jill & the Beanstalk: An eco-friendly one-stop-shop for all your child and baby needs, including awesome gift ideas.
Gifts for Sports & Outdoors Lovers
- Agawa Camping Gear: Blending a love for the outdoors with design and engineering to create exceptional gear for outdoor adventure.
- Mariposa Bicycles: From the first frame hand built in 1969, Mariposa has been about one goal: building the ideal bicycle for the customer.
- The Runners Shop: Since 1975 The Runners Shop has been helping runners, walkers and fitness enthusiasts of all ages and abilities find the right gear, train with a supportive community, and maintain an active, healthy lifestyle.
- The Sport Gallery: A Toronto Gallery featuring exclusive sports prints and apparel.
- So Hip Toronto: Downtown Toronto’s oldest skate and snowboard shop with a broad range of brands and genuine and friendly knowledgeable staff.
Gifts for Style Fanatics
- Spruce Toronto: Unique handmade and vintage finds for the home.
- Cambie Design: A curated selection of functional and beautiful décor for the home.
- Woodchip Werks: One-of-a-kind wood-work creations for the home, hand made by woodworker and craftsman, Chip.
- Sunday Creative: A selection of hand-picked home décor from local artists and brands.
- Mike Paul Atelier: Ready-to-wear menswear to elevate one’s personal style.
- Soft Focus: A curated line of stylish loungewear, focused on crafting contemporary silhouettes out of quality, plant-based fabrics.
- Armed Jewlery: Creating elevated everyday jewelry that will last.
- Studio Orobica: Quality jewelry from minimal and sleek to bold and unusual.
Gifts for Self-Care Enthusiasts
- Skwálwen Botanicals: Honouring cultural plant knowledge, Indigenous science and self-care rituals, Skwálwen (squall – win) offers skincare experiences grounded in the natural world.
- Kemsi Essentials: A proudly Black-owned Canadian-made skincare brand, with all ingredients locally and ethically sourced.
- jELN: A Toronto-based, self-care line focused on natural beauty and positive energy, developed from a strong passion for natural herbs / medicine and gentle healing.
- SWAT beauty: A curation of carefully selected cruelty-free, plant-based skin products made to embrace natural beauty.
- Hoame: A Toronto-based meditation studio including a salt cave, infrared sauna and a selection of gift cards.
Gifts for Cooks & Coffee Lovers
- Spirit Bear Coffee Company: An organic and fair-trade Indigenous coffee company with over 8 different coffee roasts.
- Tealish: Natural, stylish and benefit driven tea and lifestyle products, created to put fun back into wellness.
- Barocco Coffee: A local coffee roaster focusing on exceptional quality coffee blends and limited edition single origin offerings.
- IQ Living: A beloved cornerstone independent kitchen retailer in the heart of Toronto’s Danforth neighbourhood, serving a selection of top brands at competitive prices.
- Cookery: A specialty kitchenware store and cooking class studio with three locations across Toronto.
Gifts for Endless Entertainment
- Type Books: An independent bookstore for book lovers and whimsical readers, offering thoughtful inventory, knowledgeable staff, unique gifts and a welcoming venue of literary programs and events.
- Tonality: A unique record store specializing in small-run indie and hard to find vinyl.
- Tiny Record Shop: A record shop offering an exclusive selection of new and used vintage records.
- Queen Books: A thoughtful independent bookstore in Toronto’s East End.
- Knowledge Bookstore: An independent Black-owned bookstore in Brampton Ontario that sells African, African Canadian, African American, Caribbean and children’s books.
- Romni Wools: A family owned Toronto based retail store specializing in a huge variety of natural fibre yarns, knitting supplies, weaving, crochet, and various other needle crafts.
- Game & Hobby Zone: A family-owned game and toy store for adults and kids alike.
Gifts for Everyone
- Gift Some Love: A hand-picked collection of gifts, wrapped up and delivered to your family and friends to help spread positivity and bring you closer to your community in a hassle-free and thoughtful way.
- Holiday Helpers: Sponsor a family at Christmas and support a low-income family. Holiday Helpers is committed to sponsoring 850 low-income families with a customized poverty relief package.
- Daily Bread Food Bank: You can help families facing hunger this holiday season by giving the gift of food to a family in need.
- Habitat for Humanity: Habitat for Humanity is reversing the negative impact of substandard housing by building homes and communities that remain affordable for families for generations to come. You can donate or volunteer today to help support low-income families this holiday season.
- Second Harvest: Second Harvest recovers fresh, unsold food to protect the environment and provide immediate hunger relief. You can get involved this holiday season by donating or volunteering your time.
We hope this year’s gift guide helps make holiday shopping fun, easy and sustainable! However you decide to celebrate and give to others this time of year, Teachers Life wishes you a safe and joyful holiday season.
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