Guides: Business: Company Information

Canadian Trade Directories

Frasers Canadian Trade Directory
"Frasers is a comprehensive directory and search tool, providing information on Canadian industrial wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors and their products and services. In addition, we list international companies that supply goods and services to the Canadian marketplace. Search our Frasers database by company, product or brand name, or find a specific item on any of listed company websites by selecting our Industrial Search, or view company listings by searching our Directory of Companies" (Frasers.com)

International Trade Directories

Alibaba
A global marketplace for online sourcing and shopping. Search by product, filter by country/region, category. Some profiles include product details and prices or price ranges.

ThomasNet
A platform "for Supplier Discovery and Product Sourcing"

Trade Associations

Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association

Trade associations often do their own market research for members. Data may be made available on the association website. Here are some examples:

Directory of Business and Trade Associations
Source: Industry Canada

Other Sources of Company Profiles:

Kijiji
Kijiji lets you browse online classified ads from major cities across Canada and the United States. You can identify small and home-based businesses that may not appear in any other directory. You can begin with the Kijiji site for Hamilton.

It can be difficult to identify small, local businesses in standard company directories or databases. Think outside the box and try the following resources:

Yellow pages Directory (Canada)
The Yellow Pages Directory is great for identifying small businesses in Canada. Search by name, by keyword, or browse by category.
Yellow Pages directory (U.S.)
Manta
Manta is an online community dedicated to small business. You can search by company name, category, or location. It includes companies in Canada, the US, the UK, and other countries worldwide.