Karina Sinclair: Welcome to the Landscape Ontario Podcast. I’m your host, Karina Sinclair.
There’s something neat about hearing an industry talk to itself — not in a boardroom or on a webinar, but on a busy trade show floor, face to face.
At the Landscape Ontario Congress, Canada’s largest and longest-running trade show and conference for the landscape profession, thousands of people come together to discover new products, make connections, learn from one another and get a sense of where the industry is headed.
If you’ve never been, Congress is one of those events that’s hard to explain until you’ve experienced it. There’s the energy of the trade show floor, the people you run into, the things you didn’t know you needed to see until you saw them, and the conversations that can send you home with a new idea or a new direction for your business.
For this episode, I took my microphone onto the 2026 Congress trade show floor and asked exhibitors from across the landscape and horticulture industry a few questions: Why do you keep coming back? What trends are you noticing? And how hopeful are you about the future of the green trades in Canada?
What follows is a collection of voices from the floor — what people were talking about at Congress and what they’re seeing in their businesses and across the industry.
And if listening to these conversations makes you wish you were there, there’s good news: Congress 2027 is coming up January 12 to 14 at the Toronto Congress Centre. So consider this your invitation. Come see what’s new, network with your peers and maybe even discover something you didn’t expect. Listen to the end of the episode for a special promo code just for listeners to get free tickets to the trade show.
Now, let’s start with a question that says a lot about the value of being there: after all these years, why do exhibitors keep coming back to Congress?
Why Congress matters
Gary Kielo, Greenville Planters: Landscape Ontario’s Congress trade show has been excellent. We always get people coming in in droves, asking a lot of questions. We’re happy to meet with them. It’s a really successful show. It was part of our marketing plan from the very beginning. It gives us the opportunity to interact with a lot of people.
Ernest Williams, Aquascape: We’ve been doing this show for well over 25 years, and, uh, dealing with Landscape Ontario is really good and easy, and our determination to choose to exhibit at Congress every year is the attendees that come by the show, our past customers, but also the new customers that we inevitably run into. An event like Congress is great for exhibitors too, just to wander around and see what’s new and touch base with old friends.
Firoz Khan, Banas Stone: We’ve been doing this show for the last 20 years. We learn something every year, and we see all the people around. There are some very beautiful booths as well. And it gives us exposure. That’s what we come here for, to meet all our competitors, where they are more of my friends than competitors.
Dan Harvey, Miska Trailer Factory : This is our catapult trade show. Essentially, this sets the tone for the year. This is also a selling show for us. We get significant amount of leads, obviously, but we actually close deals on site.
Mersed Derakovic, DIY Court Canada: I would definitely say the people is the main goal. What’s been great is actually getting to talk with them and hearing their needs and finding out that we can actually align and work together.
Ian Armstrong, Snap-on Tools/Bahco: You have to be here so people think about you. If you’re not here, your competitors are here, that’s not very good. And we have new products that come out from time to time as well, and they need to be promoted.
Ben Vandeburgt, Van Noort Bulb Co: We’ve always appreciated our relationship with Congress. Between garden centres, landscapers, cities, parks, municipalities, it’s a great opportunity to connect here.
Erin Fraser, Northern Wildflowers: What keeps us coming back is just being able to meet with our existing clients, municipalities, our retailers especially, and then getting to know new ones.
Matt Whittemore, Wolf Lake Timber Works: Meeting new connections and people who are looking for what we have to offer, and jumping in on those opportunities with them. This gives our owner an opportunity to see a lot of the familiar faces he only deals with over the phone. And we get a kind of a better feel for them, and that’s really why we keep coming back.
Raymond Josephian, Derco Horticulture: I’m a big believer of Landscape Ontario and what Landscape Ontario has done and has been able to achieve. This is one of the bigger shows in North America. I’ve done shows with different companies all across US and Canada, and this certainly stands out.
Top trends on the floor
Karina Sinclair: When you have thousands of people from different corners of the industry walking through the same trade show, you get more than business connections. You get a pretty good read on what’s on people’s minds.
So, what were exhibitors hearing from attendees in 2026? What questions were coming up again and again — and what do those questions tell us about where the industry is headed?
Ernest Williams, Aquascape: We’re seeing a shift towards features. Whether it’s our pondless waterfalls, fountainscapes as well as larger ponds, so the recreation ponds. So that’s a trend we’re seeing, people asking instead of having a swimming pool, having a recreation pond or something else outside of that. Swim in, skate on, enjoy for the whole year as opposed to just three months of the year.
Firoz Khan, Banas Stone: Things are changing quite a bit. There are more lighter colours that people want now in landscaping. There used to be darker colours. Natural stone sometimes would kind of stain, and we call it aging. But now it’s more of a modern trend these days. That’s what people want. And that’s what we have brought in porcelain, and that’s what you’ll see more and more.
Raymond Josephian, Derco Horticulture: Lighting has certainly grown in the past 30 years. There’s no doubt about it. And what was maybe a luxury is becoming a necessity. The trends that we see now, black fixtures, small fixtures, fixtures that are hidden.
John Gibson, Treemendous: Everybody’s always loved trees, but now they’re starting to see the benefits of keeping that big tree on their property, and saving it because that’s when the age they’re starting to do the most good. And they’re sentimental to them.
Erin Fraser, Northern Wildflowers: I think a lot of people are really looking for more specific varieties, especially in terms of the native wildflowers, or they’re just becoming more aware of, you know, “Maybe what I’m planting before is actually kind of invasive, or not the best thing for the pollinators in the area.”
And then also with the vegetable seeds, people are really loving the fact that our seeds are 100% Canadian grown.
Jeffrey Tan, J&S Performance & Distribution for Spider: We’ve got a lot with the conservation areas, and what they came to us saying is they wanted more product that was going to be, number one, eco-friendly, but also be able to do the job that they need it to do, and that’s maintain their parklands without putting damage to the property around it.
Ben Vandeburgt, Van Noort Bulb Co: A lot of questions will come about what are the trends in flower bulbs. Certainly when it comes to managing various issues like with salt, rodents, overall colour trends as well. Many things don’t ever make it to market just due to changing trends. When we’re dealing with growers that we have a relationship with in Holland, they of course are always seemingly in the know as to what is coming up next and or popular, and we often look to them for leadership in that category, so.
Matt Whittemore, Wolf Lake Timber Works: It’s tough for us because we’re not very trendy. Like, we’re a very rustic company. Everything is old school joinery, like very old-school look. It’s got that cottage country feel. A lot of it that we notice is the kind of the hardscaping in and around, so to be able to, like, match that into a backdrop and things being built through our structure as opposed to just sitting it next to a pool with some lights on.
A lot of that I think came with the pandemic, just being able see so many people be working from home and then they’re like, “Well, we can’t really go out and we can’t really travel. Why don’t we just invest in our property?” And with that came the outdoor kitchens and the outdoor living spaces that we’ve had the opportunity to build that look great.
Industry outlook
Karina Sinclair: New products, changing preferences, technology, outdoor living, native plants and longer-term thinking were just some of the themes coming through in those conversations.
But trends only tell us part of the story. We also wanted to know how the people working in this industry every day feel about what comes next.
With plenty of uncertainty in the world and in the economy, how hopeful are these exhibitors about the future of landscaping in Canada?
Jennifer Mills, A.M.A.: We’re seeing a lot of people looking at how to be innovative and looking at new options, especially looking at options that might be a bit more costly upfront, but they know in the long term it’s gonna really pay off. And a lot more people are asking those questions and looking at what their long-term returns will be. And so that, to us, is very hopeful. It’s for individuals thinking long-term.
Ernest Williams, Aquascape: As an industry, I think it’s just gonna grow. Landscaping is beautifying your property, beautifying what you interact with on a daily basis.
So I think homeowners and contractors are going to continue to, to grow as technologies change, as well as what, what we can offer people. So I think we’re gonna see growth continue in Canada.
Sheyda Saadatnia, Cedar Infrastructure: All around Canada, mostly what I see is more traditional designs. Canadian municipalities are more willing to go with old-fashioned products. But I received a lot of feedbacks from architects and landscaping designers that after seeing my products, they were like, “Okay, we were tired of those old style and old-fashioned products, and we are more willing to start using these type of designs.” And yeah, I think there’s a great future for Canada because people are paying more attention to site furnishings.
Vish, Moasure: I think the landscape industry is very hopeful. It’s an ever-growing industry. Technology is always advancing. We’re a technology company, so we see a lot of it as well from the forefront. I think it’s an exciting time at the moment. Things are getting more expensive, but again, landscapes are never gonna go away. The earth is the earth, right? So it is what it is. But yeah, I think it’s exciting.
Raymond Josephian, Derco Horticulture: It’s getting bigger and bigger every year, especially with the times that we are in right now, uncertainty in the world, uncertainty with the economy. People not traveling as much. They hold onto their money a little bit, but at some point they still have to enjoy life, and they spend it on their homes.
Mersed Derakovic, DIY Court Canada: I would say the beauty of what we’ve seen recently is a lot of people and kids want to go outside. They wanna be outdoors. and I think a lot of these landscapers are offering them these services to have beautiful spaces that actually make them want to be excited to not just stay indoors. Getting outdoors matters a lot and being active and healthy. And I see that shift has been substantial.
Sheyda Saadatnia, Cedar Infrastructure: In this industry, I learned it’s not late to start from scratch. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It takes hard work and patience, but you can get to where you want to be.
Gary Kielo, Greenville Planters: The sky’s the limit still. And it’s funny to say that in this day and age of uncertainty, but talking from a biased planter perspective, there seems to be no end to the number of businesses and people who want planters and are looking towards green and getting something out there. You know, be it a tree, a plant, a bush. Upscaling a look of something, a restaurant patio, a lobby, an atrium, a deck, a backyard. Because of the news feed we read, I often wonder, you know, am I going to wake up tomorrow and find out the world has ended? That’s being a little dramatic, but given that you can filter out the nonsense, it looks really positive in my opinion.
Erin Fraser, Northern Wildflowers: I would say very hopeful. I mean, even being at the show, it’s been so busy. We’ve had so many people inquiring and asking about, maybe being a retailer, maybe, incorporating native seed into their landscaping. And so it really gives us hope that that trend will continue, and it’ll keep going for many years.
John Gibson, Treemendous: People are taking pride in their property, but they also feel like they need to because they see their next-door neighbour doing it and everything. So I see it getting better and better because as people see what it does to a property, increases the value, the pride of ownership when you have something like that.
But what it does to the environment is something else too. People are now are getting interested in all the different types of trees and plants. I see it growing.
Ben Vandeburgt, Van Noort Bulb Co: We’ve always said we sell promises, right? We give people the opportunity to create joy. And that can happen within this plant industry overall, but certainly when it comes to flower bulbs, the opportunity to see colour in the season is hope.
Cody DesRoches: Very hopeful. A lot of young people, a lot of diversity coming in. There’s so many great things that are coming and really think that in the next three to five years, I think we’ll see even greater things.
Get yourself to Congress
Karina Sinclair: There’s a lot to take away from those conversations.
Exhibitors come to Congress to meet customers, find new connections, see what’s changing and get a sense of what’s happening across an industry that continues to evolve. And the questions being asked on the trade show floor offer a glimpse into where those changes are taking us.
But perhaps the biggest takeaway is the sense of possibility. Whether it’s new technology, new plants, new approaches to outdoor spaces or a new generation of people entering the profession, there are plenty of reasons to keep looking ahead.
And if these conversations have you wondering what you’ll discover at the next Congress, you’ll have your chance to find out.
Congress 2027 takes place January 12 to 14 at the Toronto Congress Centre. You can register at locongress.com. And if you just want to experience the trade show floor, use the VIP code POD2027 when you register to get your free trade show ticket.
We hope to see you there.
And one final note before I go: this is the last episode of the Landscape Ontario Podcast for a little while. Thanks for listening, and for being part of the conversation. Feel free to share your thoughts on how this podcast can better serve you in your business or career in the green trades. You can send your ideas to podcast@landscapeontario.com. We’ll be back when the time is right.
Until then, keep growing.
