Made in Canada: GNI's Most Popular Insulation Types

February 14, 2025

Great Northern Insulation has been Canadian owned and operated since our founding in 1980. In 2024, our professional teams improved the energy efficiency of more than 10,000 homes and buildings across Ontario. Homeowners may be surprised to learn that most of the insulation products GNI installs in their walls, attics, and basements are manufactured right here in Canada, even when they're produced by global industry leaders. 

You don’t have to maintain a relationship with leading insulation material manufacturers Canada-wide, like Great Northern Insulation does, to find the manufacturing location of an insulation product. Instead, Ontario homeowners can check the Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC) registry to find information on the manufacturer and national or provincial code compliance of any CCMC-approved product.  

Let’s use the CCMC registry, as well as the relationships GNI maintains with our insulation and energy efficiency product partners, to look at some of the most popular insulation choices for our residential customers: 

BASF Walltite: Advanced Spray Foam Technology 

BASF's Walltite spray foam insulation, a leader in the Canadian market, is manufactured in both Alberta and Ontario. While BASF is a global organization, they've invested significantly in Canadian manufacturing capabilities to serve our unique climate needs. Great Northern Insulation installs BASF’s high-performance Walltite spray foam insulation throughout the home in both new construction and renovation projects. 

What makes Walltite particularly effective is its ability to provide both superior insulation and an air and vapor barrier in a single application. Spray foam expands to create an airtight seal, offering one of the highest R-values per inch of any insulation product. At Great Northern Insulation, our spray foam installers are certified through Caliber QA, Canada's leading spray foam certification program. 

Climatizer Cellulose: Sustainable Insulation Made from Local Materials 

One of our most sustainable insulation options is Climatizer cellulose, manufactured entirely in Ontario. What makes this product particularly sustainable is that it's made from a minimum of 85% locally sourced post-consumer recycled newsprint. This means that the newspapers recycled in Ontario communities are transformed into high-performance insulation products with an extremely low carbon footprint even before it improves a home’s energy efficiency. 

Great Northern Insulation most commonly installs Climatizer cellulose as loose-fill insulation, blown through a hose into the attic space. It can also be dense-packed into wall and ceiling cavities, providing excellent soundproofing alongside its thermal insulation properties. 

In 2024, GNI installed more than 375,000 bags of sustainable cellulose insulation, meaning millions of local newspapers and other newsprint was upcycled to improve the energy efficiency of Ontario homes. 

Get a free, no-obligation quote from the professionals at Great Northern Insulation.

Canadian-Made Fibreglass and Mineral Wool Batts 

Great Northern Insulation sources batt insulation from multiple Canadian manufacturers – in 2024, our installers utilized more than 500,000 individual batts of insulation. Some of our most-used batt products are from Owens Corning, which operates manufacturing facilities in both Alberta and Ontario, and Johns Manville, which produces their fibreglass batts in Alberta.  

For specialized applications, we also utilize Rockwool's mineral wool products, manufactured in British Columbia and Ontario. These Canadian-made materials provide excellent fire resistance and sound dampening properties alongside their thermal performance. 

Parts You Might Not Think About: Supporting Materials 

Even many of the supporting materials we use come from Canadian manufacturers. A good example is the blue TuckTape manufactured by Intertape Polymer Inc. in Ontario. While homeowners might not give much thought to this tape, it’s used throughout the home construction and renovation process to create an effective air barrier. Great Northern Insulation uses it extensively to seal joints in air vapour barriers, around penetrations, and when assembling cribbing to insulate the attic hatch. 

Supporting Canadian Manufacturing, One Home at a Time 

By choosing these Canadian-made insulation products installed by Great Northern Insulation, homeowners aren't just getting high-quality materials suited to our climate – they're also supporting Canadian manufacturing jobs, local professional installers, and reducing the environmental impact of long-distance transportation. Whether its spray foam manufactured in Alberta, cellulose made from Ontario newspapers, or locally produced sheathing tape, these products represent the best of Canadian construction manufacturing. 

Great Northern Insulation’s Mission is “to provide homeowners and builders with the products and services they need to help reduce their carbon footprint and build safer, more energy-efficient and sustainable communities.” We're proud to partner with these Canadian manufacturers to not only contribute to sustainable communities through improved home energy efficiency, but also by supporting our local economy. 

When you choose to upgrade your home's insulation with Great Northern Insulation, you can feel confident that many of the materials we install are manufactured in Canada, installed by Canadian professionals, tailored to the Canadian climate. 

Get a free quote from Great Northern Insulation