Maplewashing 

Maplewashing refers to a tendency by Canadian governments, institutions, and media to perpetuate the notion that Canada is morally superior to other countries, thus sanitizing and concealing negative historical and contemporary actions.

By engaging in maplewashing, Canada downplays its complicity in the exploitation of natural resources in developing countries, masking its role in perpetuating global inequality and environmental destruction. This practice also obscures the country’s ongoing violations of indigenous sovereignty and the disastrous impacts of colonialism. Furthermore, Canadian politicians often use maplewashing to present the nation as a humanitarian leader while simultaneously enforcing harsh immigration policies that disproportionately target refugees and asylum seekers from marginalized backgrounds. Additionally, maplewashing serves to conceal Canada’s significant contributions to the global arms trade, thereby hiding its involvement in fueling conflicts and human rights abuses worldwide.

Maplewashing by capncanuck August 3, 2024

Maplewashing 

Noun.
When American based companies market themselves as Canadian to avoid financial damage during unprovoked trade wars. Often they will highlight Canadian individual employees, while avoiding the fact that those employees are paid below a living wage, given no job security and threatened with termination if they support a union.

Starbucks really does a lot of great things for Canadian communities, if you believe the Maplewashing in their commercial.

Maplewashing by Andy Craven May 3, 2025

maplewashing 

Any ruse or attempt to appear Canadian for marketing purposes in the Canadian market, if the product or its vendor are of primarily foreign origin.

There are various confusing designations such as "prepared in Canada" (for foreign foodstuffs packaged in Canada) or "cellared in Canada" (for wines packaged in Canada but not made from Canadian grapes). At some point maplewashing is a form of whitewashing, but the inherently-regional term "maple" infers wrapping foreign product in the Canadian flag.

An analogous tactic, "pinkwashing", is a form of whitewashing which hijacks women's or LGBT causes (such as breast cancer awareness) for demographic marketing.

maplewashing by bitchuck June 12, 2025