BrandSpark research suggests the most trusted brands in Canada can command 15% higher price premiums than others in their categories – and 75% of consumers say that the BrandSpark Most Trusted by Canadian Shoppers logo is an important factor in their purchase decisions.
Those are just two of the findings unveiled last month in the 12th annual edition of the BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards. The 2025 version of Canada’s largest annual consumer trust survey gathered insights from 35,200 people, granting awards to brands in 292 categories.
“We do our own logo testing to find out what consumers think of the seal. Consistently, it ranks as one of the strongest claims that brands can make,” says Adam Bellisario, associate vice-president, awards at BrandSpark International.
Founder and president Robert Levy, launched the BrandSpark Most Trusted Brands awards in 2014 to find out which brands Canadians trust the most. There are also local versions in the U.S. and U.K.
BrandSpark funds an annual open-ended, unaided national survey with Canadian shoppers. Winning brands require at least 10% of mentions to qualify in a category and if brands are within 3% ties are declared.
This year’s award was expanded to include more dairy, alcohol, pet care and other categories.
Along with national winners, BrandSpark is now also naming brands that have achieved second or third place rankings. And, to reflect Quebec’s distinct market, this year’s awards included an extensive list of Quebec-specific winners, highlighting how brand trust can vary greatly in the province.
Top brands can pay to license the Most Trusted logo and use it for marketing aimed at consumers, B2B, investors or internal HR purposes. Brands can also access the trust research that BrandSpark gathers.
Claire Bara, president of Lassonde chats with Robert Levy about what the Most Trusted Products seal means to their brand – and their teams.
A celebration for winning brands is held annually in Toronto each fall. This year’s awards were held Nov. 5 at Corus Quay and featured insights on how to build trust. The event included two fireside chats about the importance of trust, featuring Claire Bara, president of Lassonde (Oasis fruit juice) and Nuno Bamberg, senior vice-president, brand and marketing of Sleep Country Canada. The 50-year-old Oasis brand was voted the most trusted Fruit Juice despite heavy competition from international players like Tropicana, while Sleep Country/Dormez-Vous was voted Canada’s most trusted Mattress Retailer.
Nuno Bamberg speaking about how Sleep Country/Dormex-Vous incorporates the Most Trusted Products seal into their marketing strategy, including featuring it on delivery trucks.
Bellisario says internal research has found that 66% of consumers say consumer-voted awards influence their purchase decisions. In addition, research done by one winning brand found sales increased 11% after it used the BrandSpark Most Trusted Award logo, he adds.
Levy says BrandSpark conducted additional research this year to delve into the impact of trust. “We found that if a brand is most trusted – more trusted than other brands – that can actually drive direct ROIs in terms of, for example, the price premium you can charge.”
Internal data shows that consumers are willing to pay a 15% premium for brands they trust more than competitors – what BrandSpark calls Resilient Trust – versus 9% for brands that have equal trust. And, if your brand is more trusted than competitors, it greatly reduces the likelihood that consumers will switch to lower-priced alternatives such as private labels or heavily discounted brands, Levy says.
Among the other top winners of the 2025 BrandSpark Most Trusted awards were Procter & Gamble with fifteen wins across household, home, and personal care; Walmart, with nine wins in a variety of grocery categories; Haleon with 6 wins across OTC categories, Bell with five wins across telecommunications categories, and Behr Paint, repeated its victories from 2024 in Interior Paint, Exterior Paint and Exterior Stain.
Financial services company Desjardins proved its dominance in Quebec with seven regional wins, including Rewards Credit Card Provider, Retirement Investment Services and Credit Union; and Intact Insurance won in Home and Auto Insurance for Quebec, as well as nationally.
“Some of these very strong brands have realized they can’t take their market share and their trust share for granted,” Levy says. “Many clients renew from year to year because they see the value.”
CONTACT:
Adam Bellisario
Associate vice-president, awards, BrandSpark International
Abellisario@BrandSpark.com
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