Look for a purple ring (U.S. or Multinational) or a pink ring (Canadian) around a pin — these highlight where private equity, either with U.S. & foreign investment, or Canadian P.E. investment, is active in your city. The rings reflect our research into each brand's current owner, as of September 2026 — deals close and ownership changes, so if you spot something out of date, please tell us. Corporate and private-equity roll-ups acquiring local businesses can impact neighbourhoods and in some cases make it more difficult for local and independent businesses to survive.

Alongside the flags above, a teal ring marks an Indigenous-owned business — not a caution, an invitation. That research hasn't started yet for the Vancouver-area map (the filter is here and ready, currently at zero), but it's part of the plan: Indigenous entrepreneurs launch new businesses at five times the rate of non-Indigenous Canadians, and Indigenous-led enterprises now contribute more than $31 billion a year to the Canadian economy across 50,000-plus businesses.

Find Local started with a simple question: when you spend money at a business in your neighbourhood, where does it actually go? We matched public business licence data against a set of roughly 500 chain and franchise ownership patterns to trace who ultimately owns the brands you find in your neighbourhood — a Canadian company, a U.S. multinational, or one of several other countries.

The map shows two kinds of pins. Flagged pins are businesses we could confidently match to a known chain, franchise, or parent company, each with its country of ownership identified through our research. Pins marked NV (ownership not verified) are local businesses from municipal licence data that aren't chains we've researched: mostly single-location independents, plus some small local chains. We haven't confirmed who owns them yet. If you own one, or your business is missing, use the “Add or verify your business” link and we'll confirm ownership and update your pin. Once verified, any local business can also choose a paid featured listing to stand out on the map: use the “Ask about Featured listings” link. Our goal is to include every verified locally owned business, so consumers can easily find and support local businesses in their communities.

This map currently covers Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, and Port Moody — the connected core of the region. New Westminster, Richmond, Coquitlam, the North Shore, and Langley are planned for a later phase, once we're able to source usable location data for each. Find Local is an independent research project. It is not affiliated with any city or provincial government, or any business or brand named on the map.