You’d think that three upscale restaurants, a catering company and a cooking show would take all of Mark McEwan’s time and energy. Not so. The celebrated Toronto, ON chef is opening his own gourmet food store in the spring. It’s to be called, quite simply, mcewan.

As he’s been building his empire, McEwan has also been building a brand—his own. And he’s not the only Canadian chef to do so.  Across the country, but especially in our big three cities—Toronto, ON, Montréal, QC and Vancouver, BC—chefs have discovered they are suddenly famous, respected—and marketable.

Take, for example, Michael Bonacini, another hugely successful Toronto chef with six restaurants under his wing, stints on the TV show “Cook Like a Chef” and most recently, celebrity appearances to promote KitchenAid appliances.

Or how about Robert Clark, executive chef at C Restaurant in Vancouver? Clark has developed a gourmet food line, Contemporary Ocean Products, where you can source British Columbia sockeye salmon, Clark’s own citrus-flavoured salt, fig and black pepper crackers, plus other specialty goodies.

Speaking of crackers, who hasn’t heard of Lesley Stowe’s nutty-crunchy Raincoast Crisps? Stowe trained as a chef, and with her keen eye for food and taste trends, parlayed her kitchen skills into a product that’s been wildly successful across North America.

Vancouver pastry chef Thomas Haas left the restaurant scene in 2000 to launch his own line of delectable chocolate and pastry creations (really like pieces of art you can eat). Four years later, Chocolatier magazine named Thomaas Haas Fine Chocolates one of the top 20 artisan chocolatiers around.

In Quebec, chef Jean Soulard is an icon, and little wonder. Soulard has six cookbooks, a TV cooking show, his own line of aprons, his own specialty foods—jams, oils, vinegars, mustards—and is anchor of a Québec City radio show. Did I mention he’s also executive chef at Québec City’s famed Fairmont Le Château Frontenac hotel?

Chef Josée di Stasio has also carved out a niche for herself in the Quebec food scene with her own television show, “À la di Stasio,”and cookbook by the same name. Ditto for Ricardo Larrivée, who doesn’t have chef credentials, but publishes a magazine under his name devoted to food and has his own cooking show “Ricardo and Friends”on the Food Network.

I could go on and on—there’s Toronto chef Jamie Kennedy, who’s partnered with Thermador. Chef Ted Reader has joined forces with grocery store chain Metro on his own line of BBQ sauces, marinades and seasonings. Chef Anne Kirsebom of Vancouver launched her own line of gourmet sauces and has just signed a licensing agreement with Grand Marnier in France. Chef Romy Prasad of So.Cial at Le Magasin in Vancouver has his own bread line. Linda Meinhardt, former chef at Vancouver’s Bread Garden chain, opened Meinhardt, a fine foods grocery and has her own brand labels…