New Toronto bar responds to Trump tariffs with patriotism; accepts Canadian Tire money

With tensions continuing to rise with the U.S. and tariff troubles making headlines daily, a new bar in downtown Toronto is inviting customers to “go Canuck yourself” in an environment saturated with Canadiana and nostalgia.

Set to officially open to the public on Friday, Grizzly Bar on Queen Street West hopes to create a cozy mix of a campy and campfire aesthetic where people are “smacked in the face by ‘Canadianness.’”

“Having a Canada-themed bar in Canada seemed like going to a show and wearing the band’s shirt to their own show. But after the events of January, we decided that people needed somewhere to celebrate being Canadian,” co-owner Jessica Langer Kapalka tells CityNews, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

“We’ve seen a resurgence in Canadian pride more than anything I’ve seen in my lifetime, so we thought that people needed a place where they could go and be really excited about being Canadian or be really excited about Canada — whether they’re Canadian or not.

“We haven’t really had a lot of situations where Canadian sovereignty has been threatened in the last 150 or so years. Grizzly Bar is in some ways a response to the threat to Canadian sovereignty … it’s a response to our neighbours down south and some of the decisions that they’ve made.”

Langer Kaplaka says like many other businesses in the country that have chosen to alter operations to be more Canada-centric, their mission is not one of nationalism, but patriotism. While they might have been inspired by the current Trump-induced turmoil, she clarifies that “it’s not anti-American, it’s pro-Canadian.”

“It’s not that we don’t like America, it’s that we love Canada,” she says.

Every corner of the space is packed with Canadiana, including Indigenous art and a massive canoe hung over the bar, a “foospuck” table, sports memorabilia and fishing trophies. A list of Citytv’s Speakers Corner rules shares space with a piece by Haida artist Bill Reid and a wall of fame bears the photos of some of Canada’s brightest stars. The “go Canuck yourself” tagline is seen in several spots and a Heritage Moments frame provides a nostagia-infused photo-op. Plus, there are a number of heartfelt contributions from everyday Canadians are spread throughout the space.

“We put out a bit of a call when we first decided to open for people — if they were clearing out their wood paneled basement and they found that they had some Canadiana they didn’t need anymore, send it to us. We’d love it and we’ve got so much,” says Langer Kapalka.

“A very lovely woman came in and gave us her late husband’s custom hockey skates, which you can see is hung with pride of place above the bar. We were also given a whole bunch of vintage university pennants by a lovely retired lieutenant colonel from London, Ontario. We got a bunch of sports posters from the current owner of the Grand Slam of Curling — cannot get a more Canadian sport.”

For ambience and entertainment, the playlist will include only Canadian artists plus local live acts. Langer Kapalka says they’re ensuring all menu items are also not only on theme, but made with ingredients sourced locally or from Canadian allies. The approach also extends to the alcohol they serve, which includes a pinkish-red desert cocktail named for a national treasure.

“We’ve got the Hadfield, which is named after our astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield. It’s an experiential cocktail. You’re served the cocktail with a set of noise-canceling headphones, preloaded with the Colonel Hadfield’s famous cover of [David Bowie’s] ‘Space Oddity,’ so you can listen to him sing as you drink it,” she says.

When it comes to paying the bill, customers have a choice of cash, card or Canadian Tire money.

“It’s our nation’s second currency, I guess … so we do accept Canadian Tire money on par with the Canadian dollar. If you’re old enough, like me, we all remember seeing a wad of Canadian tire money in our parents’ cup holder in their car, in the glove box, in the everything drawer in the house and we’ve decided to give that Canadian tire money a second chance at life,” says Langer Kapalka.

“You do have to be able to pay for a menu item in its entirety in Canadian Tire money and we can’t give you change in Canadian dollars. But if you want to pay for your poutine with paper Canadian Tire money, you are more than welcome.”

To further the double-double down on all things Canadian, Langer Kapala says they will be organizing events like the Hoser Olympics that will have customers compete in challenges like an apology competition where “you’ll be given increasingly absurd situations to apologize for” and a frozen t-shirt contest.

“Everybody’s fully clothed. You get a frozen T-shirt that’s soaked and frozen and you have to be the first to pry it open and put it on. We’ve got the ‘loonie toss’ where you have to toss a loony into receptacle and we collect all of the loonies and they’re donated to the Girl Guides of Canada. We have the Timbits Tower challenge where you have to stack Timbits as high as possible in 30 seconds. Now Timbits are round, so this is a lot harder than it seems,” explains Langer Kapalka.

She adds that every aspect of the space and programming is geared towards positive patriotism and bringing people together.

“We want people to feel a little bit nostalgic and a lot proud. We want them to feel like Canada is something worth celebrating, because we certainly think it is,” she says.

“We wanted to have a bit of an antidote to the negativity that you see online. We wanted to have somewhere where people could be positive and happy about Canada and Canadianness … and enjoy themselves in an atmosphere that that is supportive for them … an atmosphere where they can love Canada. And everybody around them loves Canada too.”