The Future of Canadian Commerce Isn’t South of the Border

Our biggest takeaways from Ecom North weren’t about growth tactics – they were about where to build your business.

This isn’t just patriotic sentiment. It’s smart business strategy, backed by world-class infrastructure, a deep talent pool, and a growing ecosystem that rewards trust and sustainability.

What Ecom North Revealed About Canadian Businesses

Ecom North wasn’t another conference full of growth hacks or viral marketing tricks. It was about building lasting, community-driven businesses. Across two days at Meridian Hall, founders – ranging from early-stage startups to 8-figure brands – shared candid lessons on what actually works, and what doesn’t.

And a consistent theme emerged: founders are staying in Canada by choice. They’re not leaving for opportunity – they’re creating it here.

Trust as Currency

The team from Loop was proud to host a booth and connect directly with founders between sessions. Many of those conversations centred on one topic: trust – as both a barrier and a differentiator.

Founders told us that trust determines whether they can expand, partner, or enter new markets. Several were particularly interested in our GBP accounts, a clear sign that Canadian businesses are expanding beyond the U.S., driven by a mix of strategic foresight and uncertainty around the American market.

That doesn’t mean the U.S. can be ignored – but it does mean the old “build in Canada, scale in the U.S.” playbook is fading. Today’s founders are thinking globally from day one, using Canada as a strong, stable base for global operations.

Despite only 58% of Canadians still viewing fintechs as trustworthy as traditional banks, Ecom North attendees understood how Loop helps close that gap – through compliance, CDIC and FDIC protection, and a platform built on reliability. Trust isn’t just marketing – it’s infrastructure.

Beyond the Attention Economy

The narrative around “capturing attention” is losing power. Founders at Ecom North were clear: traditional advertising is fading, and community-driven growth is taking its place.

The focus has shifted from CPMs and ROAS to relationships and reputation. Word-of-mouth, partnerships, and creator communities now drive outsized results – outperforming paid ads by orders of magnitude. Research backs this up: word-of-mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising and carries 20–30x higher long-term elasticity. We see this first hand, too, with a huge portion of our customers being referred to us by happy customers.

For Canadian founders, this shift is especially powerful. Community-driven growth scales globally without requiring physical presence in every market. Even as AI tools flood the scene, the human element – connection and community – remains the strongest growth engine.

The most successful founders weren’t optimizing for clicks; they were building businesses that spread through networks, not ad channels.

Infrastructure Meets Intention

What stood out most at Ecom North wasn’t optimism – it was readiness. Canadian founders are no longer waiting for local infrastructure to catch up. They’re building on top of global systems that already work.

At Loop, that readiness shows up in the financial infrastructure we’re creating to empower Canadian businesses to operate globally from day one. We’ve already built beyond Canada’s borders – giving founders access to real local operating accounts in USD, GBP, EUR, and CAD. These aren’t proxy accounts – they connect directly to local payment networks so businesses can pay, get paid, and move money faster – without the hidden friction of international banking.

That means no foreign transaction fees, access to market-leading FX rates once reserved for Canada’s largest enterprises, and the ability to spend and repay credit in multiple currencies. In other words, founders can operate like locals in every market they serve.

This is the real “Canada advantage”: not waiting for infrastructure to arrive, but building the tools that make global operations seamless – from right here at home.

Five Strategic Takeaways

1. Trust Is Your Moat, Not Your Marketing: Stop trying to convince customers you’re trustworthy – build systems that make it automatic. CDIC protection, transparent pricing, and responsive support aren’t features – they’re foundations for us.

1. Community Beats Campaign Every Time: The best-performing brands didn’t have the biggest ad budgets – they had the strongest communities. Word-of-mouth drives durable, compounding growth.

1. Multi-Currency Is Multi-Market Strategy: Supporting multiple currencies isn’t operational convenience – it’s a signal that you’re ready for global customers.

1. Stay Where You Can Win, Scale Where You Can Serve: The old model was “build local, scale global.” The new one: “build global, stay local.” Canadian founders can operate globally while benefiting from homegrown advantages.

1. Working Capital Follows Growth, Not Geography: Access to capital no longer depends on proximity to Silicon Valley. Modern credit and inventory-secured financing give Canadian founders room to grow – on their own terms.

Building the Future From Here

Ecom North proved something important: Canadian founders aren’t just building businesses based in Canada – they’re building businesses that leverage Canada.

The infrastructure is improving. The talent is here. The regulatory environment supports sustainable growth. And the global market is within reach.

The founders we met aren’t choosing between staying local or scaling globally. They’re doing both – because the systems now exist to make that possible.

At Loop, we’re proud to help power this new era. From multi-currency accounts to inventory-secured credit lines, we’re building the infrastructure that lets Canadian founders scale globally without leaving home.

The future of commerce isn’t about where your headquarters are – it’s about where you choose to build your foundation.