Canadian Independent Bookstore Day returns this weekend

The Canadian Independent Booksellers Association commissioned artwork from Josée Bisaillon to mark Canadian Independent Bookstore Day 2025.

The fifth edition of the relaunched Canadian Independent Bookstore Day takes place April 26.

After months of uncertainty within the industry about potential tariffs and counter-tariffs and how they could affect the sales of books in Canada, the day feels more relevant than ever, with a renewed consumer focus on shopping local and buying Canadian.

The Canadian Independent Booksellers Association is running their annual national contest for booklovers, with publisher giveaways provided by a range of presses including Penguin Random House Canada, Biblioasis, Scholastic, Macmillan, Raincoast, and HarperCollins. This year’s CIBD is also being marked by an exclusive early release of David A. Robertson’s forthcoming nonfiction book 52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing.

Independent booksellers across the country are again taking part with their own particular flavour of celebration, including the Edmonton Indie Bookstore Extravaganza with its passport and prizes, and an indie press takeover of Another Story Bookshop in Toronto.

In anticipation of Saturday’s event, Q&Q checked in with indie booksellers across the country to find out some of the Canadian-published titles they are excited to be selling this year.

Are You Willing to Die for the Cause?
Chris Oliveros
Drawn & Quarterly
– Kerri Neil, Downtown Comics, St. John’s

A Story Can Be Told About Pain
Lisa Martin
NeWest Press

– The team at Audreys Books in Edmonton

Myth
Terese Mason Pierre
House of Anansi Press

–Saul, Another Story Bookshop, Toronto

The Animal People Choose a Leader
Richard Wagamese, Bridget George, ill.
Douglas & McIntyre

–The team at Brome Lake Books, Knowlton, Quebec

One in Six Million: The Baby by the Roadside and the Man Who Retraced a Holocaust Survivor’s Lost Identity
Amy Fish
Goose Lane Editions

–The team at Brome Lake Books, Knowlton, Quebec