When the weather turns, the pack gets heavier, and you’re still 8km from camp, you learn pretty quickly which gear you trust. More often than not, you’ll see our guides trusting Fjällräven.
Prepare to see much more - Wilderness Union has officially partnered with Fjällräven as our outfitter. Their Toronto flagship on Queen West is now the home base for kitting out our guides, hosting joint events, and giving our members a standing discount on gear that’s built for exactly the kind of trips we run.
If you’ve been around Wilderness Union for a while, you’ll know we don’t hand out the partner label lightly. This one has been a long time coming.
Fjällräven was founded in Sweden in 1960 around a simple idea: make outdoor gear that’s genuinely reliable in the wilderness. Like Canada, Sweden’s far north is not a kind place to kit. Things either work or they don’t. That origin shows up in everything they make.
Most people recognise them from the Kånken backpack, but their real craft is in the technical layering, trousers, and packs that guides actually depend on. The Swedish outdoors shaped the brand, and it still does.
What pulled us in wasn't just the product catalogue but our shared values.
Fjällräven runs the Arctic Fox Initiative, a grant programme that funds conservation projects protecting the landscapes their gear is made for. It isn’t a marketing line, it’s a core part of who they are. They also run the Fjällräven Classic events worldwide, getting thousands of people into the backcountry on long-distance hikes with a strong ethos of low-impact travel.
When we put that next to Wilderness Union’s values, it lines up almost perfectly.
Stewardship. We lead volunteer trail-care days through our Trail Crew throughout the year, giving back to the parks and conservation areas that host our trips. We leave the places we use better than we found them. Fjällräven operates the same way at scale, funding and amplifying conservation where the impact is biggest.
Culture of excellence. We’ve built our guide team around people who know their craft. We don’t cut corners on guides, and we don’t want to cut corners on the gear our guides rely on.
The outdoors is for everyone. Fjällräven’s Classic events and education programming share our belief that access to nature shouldn’t be reserved for people who already know their way around a trailhead. We’re both trying to bring more people into this world thoughtfully.
Spirit of adventure. The obvious one. Hard not to feel it walking into the Queen West store, surrounded by gear built for the places we spend our weekends in.
Three things to know, rolling out over the coming weeks.
1. Explorer members are now eligible for a standing 20% member discount at Fjällräven Toronto. Anytime and all year, rising to 25% for special events, on anything in the store. Show your digital discount card at checkout (available in the Member’s section) at the Queen West location (356 Queen Street West) to get the discount. Want to upgrade from Crew? Learn more about Explorer Membership.
2. Our guides are being outfitted in Fjällräven. Starting this spring, you’ll see our guides in Fjällräven kit on trips, co-branded with the Wilderness Union mark so you’ll know who you’re with on the trail. Our guides carry an absurd amount of weight (figuratively and literally) to make your trip work, and their gear has to hold up.
3. Co-hosted events, starting soon. We’re building out a series of events together at the Toronto store: gear talks, skills workshops, season-opener socials, community nights. The goal is simple, more ways for our community to gather off-trail and learn from people who genuinely know what they’re doing.
We’ll be throwing a launch night in the coming weeks that includes a member-only 25% shopping discount at the Queen West store and a chance to meet the Fjällräven team. Details are coming in the next few days via email and Instagram. Keep an eye out.
If you’re an Explorer member, your digital discount card is available now in the Partner Discount section of your account. If you’re not yet a member, our Explorer membership starts with a free one-month trial, and the standing 20% at Fjällräven Toronto is one more reason to give it a go.
Ontario’s outdoors deserve gear that’s up to the task. We’re delighted to call Fjällräven our outfitter. Now, come walk with us.
