The Clothing Repair Gap in Canada: 2026 Survey Data

Every Piece of Damaged Clothing Is a Decision in Waiting

Think about the last time something you owned ripped, or a button fell off, or a zipper stopped working. What did you do with it?

If you're like most people, you probably didn't get it fixed. Not because you didn't want to. Usually it's because you didn't know where to go, or it felt like too much hassle, or you just weren't sure it was worth it.

We wanted to understand this better. Between May 13 and 30, 2026, we asked 84 people across 8 provinces how they deal with damaged clothing. We heard from everyday consumers, tailors, students, sustainability workers, fashion designers, and a few organizations too.

Here's what stood out right away. 65.5% of people told us something actively stops them from repairing their clothes. That's not a small number. When we asked what they actually do when something rips or breaks, the answers were pretty split. 44% said they repair it, but just as many said they donate it, and over a third said they just toss it out.

So repair is already something people do sometimes. The problem isn't that nobody wants to fix their clothes. It's that repairing something is often just harder than replacing it.

The Real Problem Isn't Trust. It's Not Knowing Where to Go

We asked people straight up. What's the biggest thing stopping you from getting clothes repaired?

The top answer, by a good margin, was simply not knowing where to go. 51% said this. Right behind that was convenience at 49%, then cost at 43%. Fewer nearby options and lack of time also came up a lot.

Here's the interesting part. Only 8% said they didn't trust repair professionals to do a good job. So this isn't about people doubting tailors' skills. It's about people having no idea how to find one nearby, or assuming it'll be a pain to sort out.

Almost everyone we talked to, 91.7%, said repair should play a bigger role in how Canada deals with textile waste. People already believe in this. They just don't have an easy way to act on it.

What People Actually Want

We asked if people would use a repair service if it were simple and easy to access. 74% said yes right away. Another 21% said maybe. Only 5% said no.

When we asked what kind of service would work best for them, local drop-off points came out way ahead. 52% picked this. Pickup and return service came second at 31%. Nobody was really interested in mailing clothes off somewhere or waiting around for pop-up events. People want something close by and simple.

As for turnaround time, most people were fine waiting a week or two. 41% said 3 to 7 days felt reasonable, and 38% said 1 to 2 weeks was fine too. So it's not about speed. It's about knowing when you'll get your stuff back.

Pricing was a bit more complicated. Almost half of people, 48%, said it just depends on the garment. Makes sense. You'd probably pay more to fix a jacket you love than a t-shirt from a fast fashion haul.

So What Would Actually Fix This?

We asked people, in their own words, what would make a repair system work in Canada. The answers were pretty consistent no matter what province they were from. Make it local. Make it easy to find. Make it affordable.

Some people brought up bigger ideas too. Tax breaks for repairs. Banning textiles from landfill. Forcing brands to stop making clothes that fall apart in a year. Others kept it simple. They just want to know a repair spot exists near them.

None of this is really about convincing people repair is a good idea. Most already think that. The real work is building something that makes repair the easy choice instead of the hard one.