In April 2025, Niagara Region and all 12 of its local municipalities launched Shop, Support and Share Local, a joint campaign with a simple message: buy from, back and recommend the businesses around you. It began as a response to shifting U.S. tariffs, alongside similar efforts across Canada, and it's just as good advice today. Look for the Shop-Support-Share Local signs in business windows.
Shop
Money spent at a locally owned business tends to stay close to home. It pays local wages, keeps local suppliers and trades busy, and comes back as sponsorship for the hockey team and the school fundraiser. A few easy swaps:
- buy some of your groceries at a farmers' market or farm stand
- hire local trades and service businesses for work around the house
- for takeout, order straight from the restaurant when you can
- give local gifts: a gift card from a local shop, a winery tour, a class with a local maker
Support, without spending a cent
The Shop, Support and Share Local campaign makes a good point: backing local businesses doesn't always involve spending money. You can:
- recommend a business to a friend
- leave an honest, positive review
- follow local businesses on social media, and like and share their posts
- sign up for their newsletters
Small things like these help a small business get found, and they cost nothing.
Share
Tell people about the places you love. A personal recommendation still beats any advertisement, and a good review can be what convinces a newcomer to try a local shop, restaurant or trade.
Help for the businesses themselves
Local businesses get support from every level of government. In May 2024, for example, FedDev Ontario's Tourism Growth Program put $540,000 into three Niagara projects:
- $200,000 for Flat Rock Cellars to add a covered outdoor area and stretch its season
- $90,000 for Byland Estate Winery to widen its driveway for tour buses and improve its landscaping
- $250,000 for the City of Port Colborne to improve the Wharf Terminal so more cruise ships can dock
If you run a small business or are starting one, free advice is available all year from local enterprise centres. Our Small Business Week guide has the details.
Find local
Niagara Region and several municipalities, including Grimsby and Niagara Falls, keep local business directories. You can also browse Niagara Local by town or by category to find businesses across all 12 municipalities.