In the wake of Trump’s ongoing taunts and tariffs, the demand for made-in-Canada goods continues to grow — and Ourse is here to deliver. The new furniture brand arrives from two people who are no strangers to the Canadian design scene: Jake Oliveira and Jason Henderson. The former is a Toronto product designer who has already built an impressive portfolio of lighting, seating and more, albeit so far mostly for brands south of the border. And the latter is a co-founder of Henderson Resource Group, a sales agency that brings various Euro, Scandi and North American contract brands to the Canadian market.
By this point in their careers, both had recognized the same gap in the national landscape. Oliveira cites an all-too-familiar narrative that he still found to be defining his and too many of his peers’ careers. “Canadian designers need to make a big splash outside of Canada before people here pay attention to them,” he says. His and Henderson’s solution: make their own big splash at home by launching a design company specifically dedicated to working with Canadian talent.
The name they chose, Ourse, honours Henderson’s love of bears, but its resemblance to “ours” also underscores the brand’s inclusive spirit and its ambitions to reflect the diversity of perspectives that make up the country’s creative community. While its initial collection has a warmth and woodsiness that feels vaguely rooted in classic Canadiana, metalwork is featured just as prominently, and Oliveira says Ourse is not looking to be limited by a rigid palette or style. “I hope that people don’t see Canadian design as strictly a Muskoka chair,” he says. Henderson agrees. “My life here has always had people from all over the world, and Canada has such a diverse point of view that we can share.” Here, the duo describes the road map to their Canadian heritage moment in the making.
1
Build an identity
Oliveira credits the pairing of his creative background with Henderson’s complementary business savvy for driving them to pursue furniture that “jives with people both intellectually and commercially.” With that in mind, he sees most Ourse pieces as addressing core furniture typologies — a bookshelf, a dining chair — but with “one very unique flourish that gives the design personality.” His own mirrors for the brand lead by example: Farfalle, a full-length, features pinched corners inspired by bow-tie pasta, while Tortue references a shape common in watchmaking.
2
Recruit Collaborators
The launch collection includes contributions from designers in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg, and there are plans for future drops to eventually engage talent from coast to coast. “We definitely want to go north,” notes Henderson. And while established heavy-hitters like Thom Fougere, MSDS and Nicole Marion make up the bulk of Ourse’s initial roster, the brand is just as eager to work with emerging studios like Montreal’s smallmediumlarge, which is behind its mirrored shelf and trio of Soufflé stools (shown above). “We want people to be thrilled that they have somewhere their work can be seen,” says Henderson.
3
Put It Into Production
Ourse is similarly dedicated to showcasing Canada’s fabrication community in action, manufacturing pieces in Winnipeg, Toronto and (in the case of Thom Fougere’s Alder ash wood lounge chair, shown here) Montreal. “We found shops with incredible skill sets that were focused on high-end custom craftwork, and as much as that’s exciting and fun, it’s not stable day-to-day work,” says Henderson. “So we said, let’s grow together.”
4
Court Customers
When it comes to price, “People say that they want to pay more for a product made in Canada, but we also needed to make sure that this wasn’t at the level of art,” says Henderson. After analyzing what some of the trade’s most popular brands charge, Ourse set out to keep its pricing within 30 per cent of those. In a world where “it’s all starting to blend a bit” and residential furniture is increasingly being specified in office environments, he sees the versatility of Ourse’s offerings as another key point of appeal to designers, who can employ the same offerings for home, workplace and hospitality projects alike.
5
Throw a Launch Party
Ourse’s official debut takes place this January at IDS Toronto. “From a perspective of, ‘How can our product be seen by the most people in four days?,’ it was a no-brainer,” says Henderson. In fact, he notes that his first introduction to Nicole Marion actually came from seeing an early version of her Percy Lounge Chair (now manufactured by NaughtOne) in the 2020 edition of IDS Toronto’s Prototype section. Her Peggy table for Ourse maintains the same playfully exaggerated proportions and pop of colour — and seems destined for the same level of success, too.
Also on the schedule at IDS Toronto (January 22-25):
- Illuminate, a dedicated lighting installation
- Furniture Forecast, a gallery-style exhibition of fresh seating and storage
- How We Work, an immersive showcase of foward-thinking office concepts
Meet Ourse, the Next Great Canadian Furniture Brand
At a time of renewed Canadian pride, a furniture start-up strives to be a catalyst for the country’s design industry.