The Canadian Antique
Dealers Association

The Canadian Antique Dealers Association (CADA), is a national organization chartered by the Government of Canada in 1967, and was organized by leading antique dealers in Canada from the Atlantic provinces to the Pacific. The main purpose of the Canadian Antique Dealers Association is to set high standards of business conduct for its members, to upgrade their academic knowldege of their specialty, be it antique silver, porcelain, furniture, paintings, textiles, etc.

The CADA is a vetted association whereby entry into the association requires a dealer and his or her merchandise to be assessed by three CADA members, all of whom are in good standing, as meeting CADA standards. There are presently fewer than 90 dealers nationwide whose qualifications for membership have currently been accepted. Modeled closely on the venerable and respected British Antique Dealers Association, the Canadian group has set up similar high standards for membership.

Among the qualifications an antique dealer must meet to be eligible for membership are a continuous three-year span as a full time dealer, financial responsibility, expertise, quality and quantity of stock, a strict requirement to clearly mark all items for sale, as to period and design, whether antique or reproduction, this in writing to the buyer. The sign of the association's Golden Beaver on a store window is assurance that the dealer is pledged to adhere to high ethical standards. Make sure that the next antique you purchase is from a CADA member.