Montréal gift guide

WANT Les Essentiels is a Montréal luxury brand known the world over for its timeless bags, accessories, footwear and clothing designed to simplify and elevate the everyday. 

For a one-stop shop packed with locally created Afro, urban and vintage styles, Boutique Espace Urbain on Plaza Saint-Hubert is a great go-to. 

Made locally, the clothes at boutique C’est beau all adhere to sustainable production methods and boast sharp minimalist designs. Everyone on your list will want one of their tuques.

Make that special person in your life REALLY happy with a beautiful leather bag from local brand m0851. Their versatile pouches in different shapes and colours are perfect for stashing everything from lipstick to electronics.

MAS Montréal is a clothing brand dedicated to inclusivity for all body types. Their streamlined basics are easy-wear muted colours and flattering shapes, and they’re locally made mostly using dead stock, to give purpose to fabric that would otherwise go to waste.

PONY is an artist-led brand that offers both super fly wearables like crewnecks, tees and hats sporting the addictively quirky-cute illustrations of Gabrielle Tittley, or art objects — from posters to mugs to toys — featuring her works. You’ll want to collect them all.

Kanuk is a decades-old local brand that makes exceptional winter coats combining quality and durability with on-point cuts and styles. They also have stylish accessories.

From its store on Boulevard Saint-Laurent in Mile End, Ça va de soi is a shrine to pretty sweaters and cardigans made with ultra-fine Super 160 merino wool. 

Eliza Faulkner is known for its bold and feminine designs, celebrated for creating elegant silhouettes with a hint of irreverence. Each piece is carefully designed, cut, and sewn in Montréal, with collections highlighting natural fibers, especially linen.

Le Cartel is a streetwear brand penned by a collective of artists, and it shows — their pieces are singularly stylish in their functionality.

Fashionable shoes designed in Montréal? Yes please. Maguire is a brand of luxurious, original, ethical and affordable footwear with a beautiful Mile End boutique.

Make your lounging sessions extra stylish with some comfy gear by Rose Boreal, all locally made with sustainably sourced textiles. 

BEDI is a high-quality winter coat, bag and knit brand with a sleek aesthetic and a flawless sustainable philosophy. It’s the perfect brand to gift stylish warmth.

For the yogi in your life, Lolë in a Montréal brand of yoga wear that combines urban style with fit function. 

From earrings to fine necklaces crafted from white, yellow and rose gold as well as silver, everything at Camillette is locally sourced and made with delicatesse. 

MYEL’s shop on tawny Laurier Avenue West is the perfect spot to pick up refined bracelets, pretty pendants and stunning stackable rings.

Argent Tonic has been a local destination for decades for elegant yet bold creations in silver or gold, packed with gorgeous semi-precious stones.

Ready to take it to diamond town? Head to Ecksand, an upscale jewellery seller specialized in handpicked, natural diamonds and pearls.

Master-class jeweler Roland Dubuc takes inspiration from origami to sculpt pieces out of sheets of gold or silver that he folds into exquisite wearable artworks. 

Freitag has a huge fan base for its trendy shop full of in-house or local designs with an organic, contemporary feel. The selection features lots of silver pieces with semi-precious stones.

Small local chain Kemmi features boho-style jewellery handcrafted from the highest quality silver and solid gold. 

Select your meaningful gift at Corail Blanc from the cool-girl headpieces, body chains and anklets, all made by local designers.

Ruby Mardi on Saint-Zotique is perfect for the romantics in your life: they have everything from elegant engagement rings to an abundance of dried and fresh florals and colourful prints. 

O-Taku Manga Lounge is a sanctuary for manga enthusiasts. Expect to find in the impressive manga collection, book treasures, epic pages and drawn adventures that transcend borders.

The ultra-loveable dolls from Raplapla are cuddly, original and full of personality. They’re lovingly handmade in the brand’s Mile End workshop (which also offers repair services at its in-house “hospital” for all fabric toys in need of TLC).

Les Petits Voyous is a store in Westmount best known for its children’s fashion, but it’s also full of sweet gifts for tots, from plushies to pacifier clips to sipping cups to kiddy home décor.

Drawn + Quarterly is a famous Montréal bookstore and publisher known for its original comics and selection of contemporary novels, not to mention their wonderful children’s books.

Bonder Books on Westminster in Montréal West is 60-plus years old, having provided books to kids and young adults to generations already. Check out their special Montréal authors section.

Mouton Royal is a small shop with a big heart, with an ethically and sustainably made selection of stuffed toys, DIY kits, blocks, musical instruments — even costumes for dress-up fiends.

Raise a pint to Montréal with a selection of beers from La Maison des Bières, where you can pick from 450 microbreweries in Québec and the world.

Toutes les choses parfaites elevates the corner store to new heights, with a focus on tasty local products as well as plants and a selection of craft beers sure to please any taste.

The Deluxe cocktail kit by local drink specialists 3/4 oz includes five generous bottles of flavoured syrups and mixers in an attractive box. It’s a readymade gift! 

Come stock up on Montréal goodies at one of the outposts of Le Petit Dep, purveyors of local treats and sweets from pickles to chocolates.

Chez Potier - Épicerie Gourmande is a gourmet grocery store whose selection of fruit jellies, macaroons, jams and caramels are all developed by chef Oliver Potier and his team.

For the avid cooks you know, you’re sure to find something they need at Boutique Crème on Laurier Ouest, purveyors of only the finest cookware. Cast iron trivet, anyone?

Domaine des 15 lots in the Village is the perfect place to go for anything maple, from syrup to butter — they even have maple soap.

Bakery Les Glaceurs makes gift-worthy cupcakes all year round, but their seasonal holiday themed creations will always add wow to a celebration.

Every year Québec candy company KandJu produces various collections of seasonal gummies that you can mix-and-match to make a bucket tailored exactly to your tastes.

Juliette & Chocolat is a perennial purveyor of sweet treats. Who could say no to a jar of caramel spread and chocolate sauce?

Chocolat Boréal’s gourmet chocolate boxes are a local delicacy, with Québec inspired flavours including sea buckthorn caramel and Labrador tea flavoured ganache. They also make advent calendars.

Condiment connoisseurs will appreciate the spicy stylings of La Pimenterie. As see on Hot Ones, their famous Curry Verde is delicious on dishes both savoury and sweet. 

Cookbook lover? Well, Westmount cookbook store Appetite for Books has shelves full of delectable titles to choose from.

Get artsy and find some of the city’s most unique gifts or souvenirs at the boutiques of the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, McCord Stewart Museum, Pointe-à-Callière or Canadian Centre for Architecture. They’re packed with everything from precious, one-of-a-kind jewelry to unique fashion, objects, coffee-table books and more. 

Beautify anyone’s home with a bouquet or a house plant courtesy of Lavigne — Fleuriste de Quartier, whose focus on local suppliers and blooms add an attractive sustainable touch. 

Inspired by global travel and artisans, Palma boutique offers limited-edition Montréal-designed pajamas, cushions, jewellery and robes.

Plaza Saint-Hubert craft shop arloca has everything, from dainty rings to socks to beautiful prints and postcards worthy of display, all by Canadian artisans. 

Marché Saint-Laurent is a market in Old Montréal specializing in locally made products including clothing, objects and toys.

Add some magic to your home with a handblown glass object from Espace VERRE, Montréal’s foremost glassblowing studio, where you can both learn and shop year-round.

Little Italy’s BELANGERMARTIN specializes in Montréal-made home and fashion items, including stunning throws and lamps you’ll want to take home for yourself.

Offer a dramatic yet delicate lamp from Montréal’s Atelier Cocotte, whose hand-crafted fixtures feature strong organic lines shaped from gently curved wood veneer.

Looking for amazing homeware? Jamais Assez is THE shop for inventively designed chairs, lamps, bowls, cushions, throws, bed linens, tableware and more.

Bring creativity into the lives of your loved ones with some original art prints, frames, wallpapers or accessories by Opposite Wall, all made in Montréal.

Mon Shack au Québec & La cour des arts du Vieux-Montréal, both located on Saint-Paul Street East in Old Montréal, are boutiques that showcase the work of local Québec artists and artisans. You can find a variety of items for sale, including jewelry, accessories, gifts, visual art, and decorative utilitarian objects. La Cour des Arts is open from May to October, while Mon Shack operates year-round.

Not your typical tourist shop, Boutique Bonjour Montréal offers original items by local artisans ranging from fashion accessories to jewellery, greeting cards, tableware and more.

L’Empreinte is a coop packed with Montréal-made goods, featuring pottery, toys, art objects or jewellery by dozens and dozens of local artists and artisans.

Gift an olfactory experience with different scents and fragrances that are created by local artisans at Savonnerie M’Nonga, specialized in natural soaps, bath salts, oils and body butters.

Les Citadines’ beautifully packaged Montréal candle collection consists of seven specially formulated scents in tribute of the city’s iconic neighbourhoods. 

Indigenous shop Yawinonh makes beautifully scented products designed to assist women with their cycles. Their signature kits, creams and soaps make for very pretty gifts.

It took the founders of Maison Lavande a decade to finesse the delicately scented creams of their Clémentine & Lavande collection, designed to be hypoallergenic (even for delicate baby skin).

BKIND is a booming brand of vegan, all-natural and sustainably produced beauty products that specializes in face, body and hair care. They also have a vibrant palette of cruelty-free nail polishes. 

Koko & Karité is a widely distributed botanicals-based cosmetics brand that skips all the harmful sulphates, parabens and silicones to provide nature’s best kind of skincare. 

Slow-made by hand with natural and organic ingredients, Apprenti’s self- and home-care products such as hand soaps, body creams and room sprays scented with blood orange and geranium, cedar or Canadian pine.

Subtly scented enough for any gender, Luxcey skin-care products offer a complete sensory experience, hitting aromatherapy as well as bodily wellness.

Happy shopping!