We noticed that existing brand rankings were mostly objective, focusing on metrics like sales, market cap, or global relevance—often overlooking a uniquely Canadian perspective. For instance, Kantar BrandZ ranks brands by financial value, YouGov tracks brand health broadly (including non-Canadian brands), and Brand Finance Canada 100 considers marketing and business performance. But none reflect how Canadians themselves see Canadian brands through the lens of their own values. That’s why we created the GCBI—to fill this gap and highlight how Canadians' perceptions can influence a brand’s success.

The GCBI offers a more meaningful and culturally-resonant measure of Canadian brands by capturing how well they align with values that Canadians hold dear—such as honesty, sustainability, and inclusivity—rather than just financial outcomes. Traditional objective metrics like profitability, market share, and brand value reflect business performance, but they don’t reveal whether consumers actually feel connected to a brand or see it as reflecting Canadian identity. The GCBI fills this gap by emphasizing consumer perception through a values-based lens, offering insights into brand authenticity, trust, and emotional resonance—critical factors for long-term brand equity, especially in a socially conscious marketplace.

Academic research in marketing and consumer psychology supports the importance of perception-based measures. Studies consistently show that when consumers perceive a brand as trustworthy, value-aligned, or authentic, they are more likely to express stronger purchase intentions, greater brand loyalty, and even a willingness to pay more. These perception-driven outcomes ultimately enhance a brand’s financial performance over time, suggesting that public sentiment is not only a reputational asset but also a predictor of profitability. In this way, the GCBI provides a forward-looking, people-centered metric that complements—and in many cases, anticipates—traditional business indicators.

The GCBI measures seven core values: friendly, nice, respectful, honesty, tolerance, adventurous, and sustainability. These were chosen through extensive literature review and pre-testing to ensure that they reflect both enduring and emerging elements of Canadian identity—how Canadians see themselves and what they expect from others, including institutions and brands.

These values matter because they represent the social and cultural fabric of Canada. Traits like friendliness, niceness, respect, and honesty are part of the stereotypical—but often accurate—perception of Canadians as kind, polite, and fair. Tolerance reflects Canada’s multicultural ethos and commitment to inclusivity, while adventurousness speaks to national pride in exploration, creativity, and resilience. Sustainability captures a growing societal concern with environmental stewardship, a value increasingly tied to national and brand-level identity. Together, these values provide a holistic, citizen-driven lens to evaluate whether Canadian brands genuinely reflect what Canadians care about.

Yes! Values play a crucial role in shaping consumer attitudes and behaviours toward brands and products. They serve as stable, internal standards that guide preferences, judgments, and decision-making processes. Consumers are drawn to brands that reflect or reinforce their own values because such alignment provides psychological coherence, a sense of identity affirmation, and emotional satisfaction. When consumers perceive that a brand stands for something meaningful—such as honesty, fairness, or environmental sustainability—they are more likely to trust, support, and remain loyal to that brand over time. This value alignment not only fosters brand affinity but also strengthens long-term customer relationships.

Empirical research confirms that values are strong predictors of brand and product choice, as well as purchase intentions. Consumers are significantly more likely to choose brands that resonate with their personal or cultural values, especially in high-involvement categories or when ethical considerations are salient. In fact, value congruence between consumers and brands has been shown to predict not only choice behaviour but also satisfaction and advocacy. In today’s crowded and competitive marketplace, where functional differences between products are minimal, values provide a powerful differentiator. Brands that consistently demonstrate alignment with consumer values are more likely to inspire preference and loyalty—outcomes that are central to brand equity and business success.

The 2026 GCBI is based on a national survey of 3,441 Canadian adults (18 years and older) residing in Canada's ten provinces (territories excluded). The sample was designed to be nationally representative of the adult Canadian population using benchmarks from the 2021 Canadian Census, with quotas and weighting applied across key demographic characteristics, including age, gender, race, and political affiliation.

Respondents evaluated Canadian brands with which they were familiar across seven core value dimensions: Friendliness, Niceness, Respectfulness, Honesty, Tolerance, Adventurousness, and Sustainability. Ratings were collected using standardized survey measures and transformed to a common 0–100 scale.

Brand-level estimates were generated using Bayesian shrinkage estimation to improve the stability and reliability of scores, particularly for brands with smaller respondent samples. Dimension scores were then combined to produce each brand's overall GCBI score, calculated as a composite index representing the average performance across the seven dimensions.

The GCBI provides an independent, nationally-benchmarked measure of how Canadians perceive leading Canadian brands across values that shape trust, reputation, and institutional standing.

For the 2025 GCBI, there were 2,135 respondents.

Only brands that were deemed “Canadian”. A brand was deemed “Canadian” if it met at least three of these criteria: (1) It has to have been founded in Canada; (2) It has to have or had its headquarters in Canada; (3) It must operate or be available in Québec plus two other provinces; and (4) It must be popularly viewed as being “Canadian”. For example, although Hudson’s Bay Company has American owners, it has headquarters in Toronto (as well as New York City) and was founded in Canada, thus it qualifies for inclusion in our index. Likewise, although Tim Hortons currently has American owners, it was founded in Canada, thus it qualifies for inclusion. However, while French’s uses grown-in-Canada tomatoes for its line of ketchup, the brand was founded in the U.S., is headquartered in Rochester, and thus did not qualify for inclusion on the GCBI.

Yes. If there was not enough familiarity with a brand (in terms of number of raters for the brand), they were not included in the index. This is to ensure the integrity, reliability, and validity of our index.

You may have noticed that, even if a brand qualified for inclusion per our criteria, it may not appear. To suggest the inclusion of a brand on the GCBI in the future, please e-mail us. Any one can suggest a brand (or brands) for inclusion, including corporate leaders, brand managers, PR consultants, or members of the Canadian public. However, all inclusions of brands will be at the final discretion of the index authors.

Yes, but only if you are the brand manager or hold another senior leadership position for the brand in question. We’re happy to remove your brand name from future iterations—no questions asked. Please contact us.

We’re happy to consult with you individually on your brand’s performance on the GCBI. Please contact us to set-up an initial consultation and discuss the availability of customized reports for your brand or particular industry. The full GCBI index will help you assess where your brand ranks across the seven values measured and how your brand is perceived across different demographic groups. However, we are able to provide deeper insights both quantitative and qualitative regarding your brand through our customized reports consultation services.

We would be happy to speak with you regarding more information about the GCBI, or if you’re looking for expert commentary and analysis on what makes a brand Canadian. Please e-mail us. Media also get FREE access to all the GCBI data! Just inquire with us.