Welcome to BuyVeteranCA!

Motivated to make the world a better place, Dave Brimacome joined the Canadian Army to support peacekeeping and landmine removal initiatives

“As a Veteran, I’ve learned that resilience is key to pursuing the entrepreneurial dream,” says Leendert Bolle, founder of single-ingredient dehydrated dog treat company Hero’s Dog Treats.

Military Veterans and honeybees may seem like an unlikely couple, but Veteran of 15 years, Vincent Sowa, founded Backed By Bees to inspire people to connect with nature, and to help protect the pollinators that support the world’s food supply: honeybees. 

The only bean-to-bar chocolate maker in Nova Scotia, Gabrielle Breault launched Petite Patrie Chocolate in 2016, after being medically released from the Canadian Forces in 2009.

“The skills gained in the military are transferable to entrepreneurship. Both are about problem solving and acting fast on decisions,” explains Kevin Leboeuf, co-founder of Educated Beards, a Fredericton-based company that sells natural and organic premium beard-grooming products. 

“I saw the writing on the wall for my career after service,” says Scott Harrigan, a Veteran of 25 years, based in Halifax. Over the course of his military career, Harrigan sailed on almost every major warship in Canada’s East Coast fleet, equating to nearly four years of time on the sea.

Kevin joined the military at 18 as a combat engineer. Fourteen years later in 2016, he was diagnosed with PTSD from a 2008 tour in Afghanistan. “I transitioned out in 2016 and decided to do the one thing I could never do in the military: grow a beard.”

Beards only became acceptable as part of military dress protocol in September 2018, so Kevin had never experienced the troubles that come with growing one.

After 36 years of travelling the world with the Royal Canadian Airforce, Moira McKenzie decided to leave the military to start something new.

Cole Rosentreter taught people how to jump out of planes in the dark. In December 2014, a random, extremely serious parachuting accident left him on a long road to recovery. Cole was 32. The idea for his business, Pegasus Imagery, came to him in 2016 – “to build a company that focuses on disasters.”

Richard McNish and Brady McNish started brewing in their basement as a hobby; now, they are the co-founders of Dog House Brewing Company. With a shared passion for fine craft beer, the father-son duo had tossed around the idea of starting a business for years with no avail. That is, until Richard’s wife, Tina Parker McNish, finally set the idea in motion with encouragement and a necessary push to “just do it or shut up.”

Attention to detail is a skill Jeremy Mitchell honed through years of military service. Now, it is a skill he uses to design leather goods, some embossed with finely crafted details that pay homage to his past.

Victoria B.C.- based entrepreneur Christina Connelly and her husband Danyal Beale have over 50 years of combined military experience.

Matthew van Erp served 25 years in the military. He’s now using his personal experiences and the skills he learned in the Forces on his new mission – helping people lead a healthy, wholesome life

The past few months for Nicole Schur have been a whirlwind. After serving 26 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and retiring from the military in January 2020, she started Nicole Schur Yoga. The COVID-19 pandemic hit, and she was forced to close her studio.

When Rene Doucet was preparing to retire from the Canadian Armed Forces after 23 years of service, he decided he wanted to start a second career in entrepreneurship. He had already dabbled in business ownership and had run a renovation company for four years while still serving.

After serving for 15 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and sustaining an injury in Afghanistan, Ryan Pagnacco decided to go back to school to study mechanical engineering.

Frédéric Verville discovered the importance of business networking while attending our seven-day boot camp at Laval University. He realized that he didn’t have to do it all alone and how asking for help could make a huge difference to his business

From suffering a concussion and being medically released from the Canadian Armed Forces to starting a successful business she’s excited and passionate about, Kristin Topping’s journey through recovery, transition and entrepreneurship has been remarkable.

Justin learned the fundamentals of leadership and team-building during his time in the military and wanted to share his knowledge with others.

Patrick Lamothe began looking for a way to link his passion for climbing to a business venture. While leading a course, he got an idea about how to build an indoor climbing facility that would better replicate the outdoors.