Private label means your design, your label, your brand — built to your spec by an OEM factory. Here's how the process actually works, from the first tech pack to a carton clearing CBSA at your warehouse door.
Private label knitwear is simpler in principle than it sounds: you supply the design, the factory produces it under your brand — no factory name on the garment, just your label and hangtag. For a Canadian brand, the real questions are mechanical: what a tech pack needs, how long private label sampling takes, what a first order looks like at a 250-unit MOQ, and what changes once the container has to clear Canadian customs rather than a US or UK port. This guide covers each stage, including the Canada-specific parts — CARM, bilingual labelling, and where Turkey's tariff position actually sits relative to China's — that most generic sourcing guides skip.
Construction (flat-knit gauge, WHOLEGARMENT or cut-and-sew), yarn spec, graded measurements, stitch pattern, colour references and finishing details. This is the single document a factory costs, samples and produces against — vague specs produce vague quotes.
Canada's Textile Labelling Act requires fibre content and care instructions in English and French on anything sold at retail — a step brands used to sourcing for the US alone often miss. You'll also need a dealer identity: your name and address, or a free CA Identification Number from the Competition Bureau.
A confirmed quantity per colour-size and a size ratio (e.g., 50 XS / 100 S / 100 M / 50 L per colour) before a factory can quote a final price. Give a realistic figure, not a best-case one.
An honest target range lets the factory tell you quickly whether it's achievable. Withholding it rarely helps — it usually just produces a quote that misses your range.
A first private label order, tech pack to warehouse, typically runs 12–16 weeks. Repeat orders on a proven style are faster.
Canada has no free trade agreement with Turkey. Turkish sweaters enter under Canada's general Most-Favoured-Nation tariff for knitted apparel (HS 61.10) — broadly the same as Chinese sweaters, since China isn't a Canadian FTA partner either. Unlike a UK or EU buyer, there's no duty-rate case for Turkey over China here; it rests on MOQ, sample speed and supply chain visibility instead. Confirm your product's exact rate with a licensed customs broker.
GST, or applicable HST, is assessed on the duty-paid value at import, in addition to any duty owed. Your broker calculates and remits this at clearance.
Since October 2024, CBSA's Assessment and Revenue Management system is the system of record for commercial importers. You'll need a Business Number with an import/export account and a CARM Client Portal login; unless you post your own security, your broker typically extends Release Prior to Payment privileges. Set this up during production, not once a container is at the port.
Fibre content and care instructions in English and French, plus a dealer's name and address or a CA number, and country of origin. Confirm the wording with the factory before bulk — not after labels are sewn in.
Our minimum order is 250 pieces per colour, per size. For a single style, that adds up faster than the headline number suggests:
| Element | Full 3-colour launch | Single-colour first order |
|---|---|---|
| Colourways | 3 | 1 |
| Sizes | 5 (XS–XL) | 5 (XS–XL) |
| MOQ per colour-size | 250 | 250 |
| Total minimum units | 3,750 | 1,250 |
Most Canadian brands testing a first style start with the single-colour version — 1,250 units — and add colourways once that batch sells through, rather than committing to the full 3,750-unit range. Honestly: this is lower than most large-volume Chinese flat-knit factories, which typically want 500–1,000+ per colour-size at comparable quality. It's still a real production commitment, not a sample run.
The factory handles export documentation — invoice, packing list, certificate of origin. A licensed Canadian customs broker handles the CBSA entry, your CARM account and duty/GST payment. Almost all Canadian commercial importers use a broker rather than self-clearing.
Not on unit price for commodity basics at volume, honestly — Chinese FOB pricing is often lower, and Canada's tariff schedule doesn't favour Turkey the way UK or EU agreements do. Turkey's case is MOQ, sample speed and a shorter, more auditable supply chain — not duty.
Bill S-211 requires certain Canadian entities that import goods to file an annual supply chain report; whether your brand meets the threshold depends on size and structure — check with counsel. Either way, a single-site, visitable Gaziantep factory is simpler to document than a multi-tier chain.
Yes — most brands start with one colourway across the full size run at MOQ 250/size (1,250 units), then add colours once the first batch proves out.
Send your spec or a product brief with target quantity and price range. We'll come back with costing, a sample timeline and any questions about your spec — within one business day.