In 2018, for my 25th birthday, my mom and I went to the Canada Goose store in Boston. I’d been eyeing one of their famously warm jackets for years, and the store’s immersive “cold room” just seemed too fun not to try.
This was no gimmick. The subzero chamber blasts you with industrial chill and fake snow while you test-drive your jacket of choice (okay maybe I am exaggerating on the snow part).
My mom and I went in and out of that cold room at least half a dozen times, each time trying a different jacket. After some dramatic pacing and completely ridiculous over-analysis, I finally settled on a bright red coat with a fur-lined hood.
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Seven winters later? I still live in that jacket. It’s survived Nor’easters, icy sidewalks, and at least one impromptu snowball fight.
And while that coat is built for extreme weather, it turns out Canada Goose is also built for something else: extreme tariffs.
While other brands are scrambling to shift production out of China, Canada Goose hasn’t had to flinch.
The brand’s decision to keep most of its manufacturing close to home is suddenly looking like a genius-level move in a shaky global market.
Canada Goose sidesteps tariffs while others scramble.
Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images
Canada Goose is built differently and it’s paying off
Most brands treat manufacturing like a group project: outsource everything and pray it shows up on time. Canada Goose? They’re more the “do the whole project yourself and get an A” type.
According to Supply Chain Drive, over 90% of the company’s down-filled outerwear is made in-house in Canada. That kind of vertical integration is rare in fashion and it’s giving the brand a serious edge.
“Our vertical manufacturing is a real source of competitive advantage for us,” President and COO Beth Clymer said during the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call. “We are currently leveraging this capability more than we ever have before.”
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Translation: while other global brands are redrawing supply chain maps and scrambling to diversify away from China, Canada Goose is already sitting pretty.
Their made-in-Canada model means they’re mostly untouched by U.S. tariffs under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Now, that’s not to say they’re totally immune. About 20% of their goods are still made in Europe, and that’s where they’ve felt some sting.
But with most of their key production locked down locally, they’ve been able to pivot fast—something that’s proving harder for competitors.
Canada Goose’s strategic advantage in a shaky retail landscape
Canada Goose ( (GOOS) ) might be one of the few fashion brands thriving because they’re control freaks.
Instead of chasing trends or racing to the cheapest factory, they’ve doubled down on quality, ownership, and—apparently—weatherproofing their business.
And it’s working. The company reduced inventory by 14% over the full fiscal year and expanded gross margins to 71.3% in the fourth quarter.
All of this happened while the company dodged the kind of global supply chain chaos that has bigger brands sweating through their technical fleece. Nice.
They didn’t even offer a full-year forecast—not out of weakness, but because they know the consumer landscape is unstable. That’s not panic. That’s discipline.
While others rush to rejigger production and rewrite playbooks, Canada Goose is just…doing what it’s always done.
The same way my red jacket hasn’t lost a stitch, the company’s strategy hasn’t needed much tailoring either.
Turns out, being built for the cold might also mean being built for uncertainty.
