🍫 Ganong and Purdys Are Both Expanding in Canada
Author: The CANADA List Team
Published: Sept 7, 2026
Two of Canada's best-known chocolate companies are expanding in different ways: Ganong is investing in its factory operations, while Purdys is opening new storefronts.
In St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Ganong Bros. will receive C$900,000 from the federal government to adopt automation and advanced production technology. The investment is intended to modernize operations, increase productivity, expand capacity, and help Canada's oldest candy company pursue new markets.
The funding comes through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency under the Regional Tariff Response Initiative. According to the federal announcement, the project will help sustain more than 320 full-time manufacturing jobs and create opportunities for workers to develop new skills.
Ganong already has momentum. The company grew 35 per cent over the last year, while earlier investments in packaging equipment improved productivity by 75 per cent. More than 60 per cent of its recent growth has been attributed to new manufacturing capabilities. The latest funding is meant to push that expansion further.
Purdys, meanwhile, has gone coast to coast. On September 4, the Vancouver-based, family-owned chocolatier expanded into the Maritimes with four shops. Permanent locations are now operating at Regent Mall in Fredericton and Champlain Place in Dieppe. Pop-up shops opened at Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth and Halifax Shopping Centre, with a permanent Halifax storefront planned for early 2027.
The move takes the 119-year-old company into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for the first time and gives Maritime customers physical stores after years of online orders and local fundraising programs. Purdys has also indicated that more Canadian locations are planned as it continues expanding its retail footprint.
Our take
No, two chocolate companies do not prove that every Canadian consumer business is booming. This is an anecdote, not an economic indicator. But it is a welcome anecdote: two established Canadian brands are choosing to grow rather than retreat in an economy facing high costs and considerable uncertainty.
The expansions are different. Ganong is using public support to make a 153-year-old New Brunswick factory more productive, while Purdys is making a private bet on new storefronts. One supports manufacturing jobs and domestic capacity; the other brings a Canadian company into communities it has never served in person before. Neither company is standing still, and while this may not be the biggest economic story of the week, it is certainly one of the sweetest.
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