Canadian Woodworker Ltd. has specialized in the sale of machinery and tools for the woodworking industry in Canada for over 55 years. Now with four locations based in western Canada, we are very proud of the high quality machinery, hand tools, power tools and supplies we stock and sell from our brick and mortar stores, and on e-commerce.
Our expertise, and vast range of offerings, allow us to effectively service the needs of hobby, educational and industrial/commercial woodworkers from coast to coast.
Our History
Canadian Woodworker Ltd. is a family owned company with a history that dates back over five decades. In 1967 our founder, Mel Moore, after a long career selling machinery and abrasives for the woodworking industry, decided to purchase a saw blade sharpening company in Winnipeg, Manitoba to begin his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. The business under Mel’s direction became a full service industrial tool sales company specializing in blade sharpening, power tools, abrasives, chain saws and industrial woodworking and metalworking machinery, operating as Borton’s Sales and Saw Service 1967 Ltd. The company was a full family venture when his wife Ellen began lending a hand and then in 1978 they were joined by their son Cole, and in 1980 by their daughter Erin. Both of whom have been working in the company ever since.
Canadian Woodworker’s Origin
Based on his personal love of hobby woodworking, in 1988 Mel purchased a second company who catered to the retail/hobby side of the business called Canadian Woodworker. Borton’s and Canadian Woodworker operated independently until 1998 when Cole and Erin made an agreement with Mel to purchase and run the companies. They then made the decision it was best to amalgamate the companies under one banner and chose the name Canadian Woodworker. They streamlined and enhanced the company’s offerings to sales of machinery and supplies for all three sectors of hobby, educational and industrial woodworking.
Expansion Stores
After years of success in business, Cole and Erin decided the best way to deal with the changing markets was expansion. In 2005 they ventured into Alberta and opened their first satellite store in Calgary to which they found instant success. By 2009 the economy had gone soft but opportunities arose and two new stores were opened in Edmonton, Alberta and Saskatoon Saskatchewan. In 2010 they opened their fifth and largest store in Surrey, BC which eventually moved to Coquitlam, BC in 2016. Soon after, the decision was made to move the Saskatoon store east in 2018 opening in Vaughan, Ontario, but soon after closed again during the early stages of the pandemic. In 2022 the Surrey, BC store was relocated to Langley, BC where it now flourishes in a nice new modern setting. Today Canadian Woodworker is flourishing with their four bricks and mortar stores in western Canada along with a booming e-commerce business supplying machinery and tools across North America.
As of April 1st 2024, Canadian Woodworker’s Head Office & Retail Location will have moved from our old address at 1608 St. James Street to our new, larger location at:
1967 St Matthews Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3H 0J1
Canada
Our Focus
We believe Canadian Woodworker to be very unique in our business focus as we actually stock and sell machinery and tools to cater to the different woodworking industries prevalent today. We specifically have the expertise and supplies for the Hobby Woodworker, for teachers, schools and government institutions as well as for commercial cabinet shops, furniture builders, and millwork companies. Canadian Woodworker prides itself in selling nothing but high quality woodworking machinery and tools allowing us to be experts in all three woodworking segments.
Our Website
We have designed this website to be three websites in one. To simplify navigating through our website, we have created sections in the site that specifically cater to the interests of each customer. We have a Hobby section, an Educational section and an Industrial section making it simple to find what our customer is looking for. Just in case though, customers can still click on “ALL Products” to see everything we have!
We look forward to serving all woodworkers and providing you the best machinery and service available.