With winter approaching in British Columbia, publishers are discovering that “elbows up”—the defensive hockey stance that’s become the rallying cry for many Canadians following U.S. president Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state—means more than just protecting home ice. It’s about protecting Canadian publishing, one book at a time.
“BC publishers are in step with Canadian audiences’ desire to support our unique identity and cultural production,” said Matea Kulić, executive director of Books BC. “There’s a moment of educating the Canadian public in terms of ‘this book is printed in Canada’ or ‘we’re a Canadian-owned press.’”
That hasn’t been easy, notably for startups. Kim Werker founded Nine Ten Publications to produce craft books, and a Nine Ten title recently went viral on social media. “It’s a very nerdy book, Kate Atherley’s Math for Knitters,” Werker said. “It ordinarily would be the best thing ever to launch a book with 500 pre-orders, but right now, it’s nothing but anxiety,” since so many orders originate in the U.S. Microcosm Publishing is wholesaling Nine Ten books on a trial basis, Werker said, but to stay in business she may pivot to a more affordable zine format.
Greystone Books publisher Jen Gauthier understands Werker’s predicament. “We’ve had to learn an astounding amount of tariff and customs information,” Gauthier said, “and stability issues are impacting our ability to focus on selling books,” notably the first trade paper edition of Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees (April 2026).
Anna Comfort O’Keeffe, publisher of Douglas & McIntyre, agrees. “The uncertainty of the tariffs and disruptions in the U.S. keep distributors, printers, and publishers on edge,” she said. “We’ve experienced hyperinflation on printing and shipping costs, as well as confusion in how tariffs are applied. That’s created tons of work for our staff to sort out with our customs brokers and distributors.”
O’Keeffe added that D&M is foregoing U.S. trade events. “It’s a missed opportunity for sure, but the risk of staff being harassed or detained is real,” she said. “Politically, we’re reluctant to encourage travel that may appear to normalize the increasingly hostile environment. That said, our stance is not a boycott: cultural exchange remains important, and we’re committed to the strongest possible reach for our authors’ work.”
In that spirit, O’Keeffe said, books of mutual interest to Canadians and Canada-curious Americans are well-timed, and D&M imprint Harbour Publishing “hustled” Adrian Raeside’s The Canada Handbook (October) into print. It’s in good company, with Charles Demers’s The Eh Team: A Celebration of Canadianisms from Elbows Up to Poutine (Greystone, November) and Glynnis Hood’s wildlife treatise, The Beaver Manifesto (Rocky Mountain Books, out now). All three books’ covers display Canada’s aquatic engineer, the North American beaver.
At outdoor recreation-focused Rocky Mountain Books, which specializes in regional guides, publisher Don Gorman is banking on backlist to navigate the months ahead. “Spring is an important season for the travel tourism market,” Gorman said. “And we’re reprinting more of our kids’ books than ever before.”
Finally, Orca Book Publishers, which is focused on books for young readers, is “doubling down on content that travels well,” publisher Andrew Wooldridge said. “We’re navigating increased printing and logistics costs, but our U.S. educator and trade audiences are growing steadily.” Orca’s top titles include Remember Who You Are by Leona Prince and Gabrielle Prince, and illustrated by Carla Joseph, a companion to the bestselling Be a Good Ancestor and available in English, Plains Cree, and French. These languages will allow the book to find local audiences across the breadth of the vast country, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean—no passport necessary, and no need to cross the 49th parallel.
