Custom T-Shirts vs. Other Branded Apparel: What Works Best?

No single garment wins. Custom t-shirts win on price and reach. Fleece and jackets win on lifetime impressions, and polos win on looking professional. The right choice depends on your goal, your budget and your weather.

The numbers back that split. ASI's 2026 Ad Impressions Study puts a t-shirt at about 3,500 lifetime impressions. Each one costs about a third of a cent. A fleece or jacket earns about 9,000. In ASI's Canadian survey, Alberta respondents ranked fleece and jackets first and t-shirts fifth.

Merch Express has decorated branded apparel in Calgary since 1994. Every figure below comes from a named source, so you can check it yourself.

Which branded apparel works best for each business goal?

Start with the job the garment has to do. A one-day event, a staff uniform and a client gift need different things from promotional apparel. This table matches common goals to the best fit, using ASI's 2026 figures.

ASI's impression and cost figures come from its U.S. edition. The Canadian edition reports preferences only. Use the cents to compare garments. They aren't Canadian prices.

How do custom t-shirts compare on cost per impression?

Custom t-shirts tie with caps for the lowest cost per impression among apparel. ASI counts impressions with three inputs. It multiplies how long people keep an item by how often they use it. Then it multiplies by how many people see it each time.

T-shirts also lead on sales. They made up 16.1% of U.S. promotional product sales in ASI's data. Polos followed at 9.5% and caps at 9%. ASI adds a warning about that lead:

"The bestselling promo products and the most popular items with consumers don't always align."

Merch Express's own listed starting prices show the same pattern. At 500+ pieces, custom t-shirts start at $5.65. Polos start at $14.03 and fleece crewnecks at $16.51. So an entry polo costs about 2.5 times a tee. A fleece crewneck costs almost 3 times as much.

Fleece earns roughly 2.6 times a tee's impressions. That nearly pays back its higher price in views. A polo earns fewer impressions than a tee. Promotional t-shirts still make the most sense for races, events and giveaways. There, headcount matters more than lifespan.

Why do Albertans rank fleece and jackets above t-shirts?

Weather is the likely reason. ASI's 2026 Canadian survey asked which promo items people would be most excited to receive. Nationally, food gifts led at 53%. Fleece and jackets came second at 51%, and t-shirts placed third at 49%.

Alberta flipped the order. Fleece and jackets ranked first, followed by food gifts, blankets and drinkware. T-shirts came fifth. British Columbia also put fleece and jackets first. Ontario and Atlantic Canada still ranked t-shirts first. ASI doesn't publish provincial sample sizes. Treat these rankings as a strong signal, not a census.

Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1991 to 2020 climate normals explain the Prairie result. Calgary's average daily high reaches 20°C in only two months. July averages 23.5°C and August 23.1°C. The average low sits below freezing from October to April. Calgary even records average snowfall days in every month except July.

On the Prairies, a t-shirt worn on its own has a short season. A hoodie or jacket gets worn for most of the year. Calgary's average low stays at or below 10°C in 11 months out of 12. Even summer evenings call for a layer.

The coast has a different problem. Vancouver averages 166 days a year with measurable rain, which favours water-resistant shells over plain fleece. Merch Express's custom outerwear range covers both climates. It includes softshells, fleece and insulated custom jackets from Stormtech, The North Face and Columbia. Custom team jackets work well for field crews, coaches and staff who work outdoors.

Custom t-shirts vs hoodies for employees: which gets worn more?

Hoodies win on brand views per piece. In ASI's U.S. data, 78% of fleece recipients wear it at least weekly. ASI reports t-shirt wear monthly instead: 90% wear one at least once a month. A weekly habit plus a longer life is how fleece reaches about 9,000 impressions.

Custom hoodies also stay in rotation longer. Of recipients, 87% keep fleece for more than a year, against 80% for t-shirts. A hoodie also goes over whatever the person wears underneath. Your logo sits on the outer layer.

The sweatshirt vs t-shirt choice doesn't have to be either one. Give tees for summer events and warm shop floors. Give custom hoodies and sweatshirts for fall onboarding, winter jobsites and staff gifts. The range covers pullover and full-zip custom hooded sweatshirts, crewnecks and quarter-zips.

For gifts, custom embroidered hoodies look closer to retail clothing than a printed event tee. Merch Express ships custom hoodies Canada-wide from Calgary. In Alberta, fleece is what people say they want.

Polo shirt vs t-shirt: which is better for work uniforms?

Pick polos for client-facing roles and t-shirts for physical work. That settles most of the polo vs t-shirt for work uniform debate. If you're torn on a polo shirt or t-shirt, ask one question. Will this person stand in front of a client today?

Polos lose on reach. ASI puts them at 0.7 cents per impression, double the rate for tees and caps. Only 73% of recipients keep a polo for more than a year. Businesses buy them for image, and that's a fair reason. A collar reads as professional at a front desk or a homeowner's door.

Trades owners argue about this on industry forums. On the WindowCleaner.com forum, one owner said a collar makes a better first impression on homeowners. An electrician on the Mike Holt forum said his crews wear polos and tees on construction. Service calls get full uniforms.

Restaurants often split the difference. Serving staff uniforms might use polos front of house and tees in the kitchen. The same logic applies to any employee uniform. Match the garment to the work people actually do.

Embroidered polo shirts are the norm, since stitching sits well on piqué knit fabric. Merch Express digitizes logos in-house and sends a stitch proof before production. It ships custom polo shirts Canada-wide, from standard lines to Nike and Devon & Jones. Polos also have a regional quirk. ASI found they ranked in the top five only in Quebec.

For custom work shirts on a jobsite, a heavier tee usually beats a polo. It's cheaper to replace, and it handles daily washing.

Are custom hats the cheapest way to stay visible?

Yes, alongside t-shirts. ASI puts a cap at about 4,000 lifetime impressions at 0.33 cents each. Of recipients, 60% wear a cap at least weekly. The catch is retention. Only 64% keep a cap for more than a year. That's the lowest rate of the four garments.

Custom hat embroidery holds up better than print on structured caps. It keeps a crisp edge on a curved front panel. In Alberta, add toques to the order for the months when lows drop below freezing. Merch Express's custom headwear range includes trucker caps, fitted caps and knit toques. Brands include Richardson, New Era and Flexfit.

Embroidery vs screen printing: which suits each garment best?

Match the method to the fabric and the order size. Merch Express runs three decoration methods in-house in Calgary.

Screen printing suits bulk orders with 1 to 4 solid colours. It gives the lowest cost per piece at volume. That makes it the default for custom t-shirts and printed fleece. DTF printing handles full-colour designs and photographs that screen printing can't reproduce cleanly. Embroidery suits polos, caps and outerwear. A raised, stitched logo looks right there and lasts for years.

The embroidery vs printing choice also changes how people see the item. Stitching on a jacket chest reads as premium. A large back print on a tee reads as event merch. Neither is wrong, but they do different jobs.

Are company logo shirts tax deductible or taxable in Canada?

The Canada Revenue Agency treats logo t-shirts given to employees as non-taxable small items. CRA's T4130 employers' guide says small or trivial items don't count toward the gift exemption. Its examples include "T-shirts with employer's logos," along with mugs, plaques and trophies.

Non-cash gifts are tax-free only up to a combined $500 per employee each year. Company logo shirts sit outside that limit. A branded fleece or jacket gets no such carve-out, so it counts toward the $500. Plan bigger employee swag around that cap.

CRA also treats a distinctive uniform that staff must wear for work as non-taxable. Whether a logo alone makes everyday clothing "distinctive" is a judgement call, though. Don't assume a logo hoodie qualifies automatically.

These rules cover whether company swag counts as a taxable benefit for the employee. Deducting the cost of a company shirt or corporate merch is a separate question. Ask your accountant; this article isn't tax advice.

What changes when branded apparel becomes safety gear?

Hi-vis apparel is regulated safety equipment, not promotional apparel. The current Canadian standard is CSA Z96:22, published in February 2022. It replaced CSA Z96-15 and sets rules for colour, retroreflection and minimum material areas.

Logo placement needs care. Never place decoration over retroreflective tape. A large logo can also cut into the fluorescent background area a garment class requires. Ask for the garment's CSA certification before anyone adds a logo.

Construction buys a lot of branded gear. PPAI and Promotional Product Professionals of Canada ran a 2025 Canadian sales study. It named construction among the top buyer sectors. In the 2024 edition, construction made up 11.5% of Canadian promo sales.

Can decorated branded merchandise be called Made in Canada?

Usually not. Canadians want domestic goods. In ASI's 2026 survey, 91% said a Canadian-made item would lift their view of the advertiser. ASI called it the highest-rated attribute it tested.

Supply makes that hard. Most branded apparel in Canada starts as an imported blank. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada tracks the gap. In 2020, 94.2% of apparel bought in Canada was imported. Gildan, founded in Montreal, makes many blank tees. It runs large factories in Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Bangladesh. Its $2.2 billion purchase of HanesBrands in December 2025 doubled its scale. Canadian-founded doesn't mean Canadian-made.

The Competition Bureau sets the rules. "Product of Canada" needs at least 98% of total direct costs incurred in Canada. "Made in Canada" needs at least 51%, with the last substantial transformation in Canada. It also needs a qualifier, such as "Made in Canada with imported parts."

So be precise when you buy branded merchandise in Canada. "Printed in Calgary" or "decorated in Canada" is accurate for most decorated garments. "Made in Canada" on an imported blank usually isn't.

What should you check before buying eco branded apparel?

Ask for proof before you print "eco" on anything. Bill C-15 received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026. It narrowed parts of the Competition Act's greenwashing rules. Product environmental claims still need "adequate and proper testing," though.

Buyers do want greener merch. In ASI's survey, 83% of Canadians said a sustainable item improves their view of a brand. PPAI's 2025 Canadian study put sustainable products at 21.7% of distributor sales, or $441 million.

Waste is real too. Environment and Climate Change Canada reported that Canadians consumed 1.3 million tonnes of apparel in 2021. Almost 1.1 million tonnes were disposed of. A garment people keep for years beats a "green" tee that ends up in the trash. On ASI's numbers, fleece wins on that measure.

What is the best branded apparel for small business budgets?

For most small businesses, the best branded apparel is a mix. Tees cover volume, and a smaller run of hoodies or jackets covers staff and gifts. Canadian distributors sold $2.03 billion in promotional products in 2025, according to PPAI and PPPC.

Merch Express has no minimum order, even for a single shirt. Bulk discounts apply to the whole order total:

Watch the break points, because ordering just under one can cost more. Assume the same unit price across tiers. Then 99 pieces at 5% off cost the same as 94 full-price pieces. And 100 pieces at 10% off cost the same as 90. If you need 95 to 99 pieces, order 100 and keep the spares. The same logic applies from 445 pieces up to 500.

Standard production takes 10 business days. Rush production runs 2 to 9 business days, and same-day production is available. Need custom t-shirts in Calgary or corporate apparel Canada-wide? Send your logo and quantities to Merch Express. Get a free quote, and the team will match the garment to your goal.

What are the most common questions about branded apparel?

Is a polo or t-shirt better for uniforms?

A polo suits client-facing staff, and a t-shirt suits physical work. Polos cost about double per impression in ASI's data, at 0.7 cents against 0.33 cents. Buy polos for image and tees for volume.

Is it better to give t-shirts or hoodies?

In Alberta, hoodies and jackets usually win. Alberta respondents in ASI's 2026 survey ranked fleece and jackets first and t-shirts fifth. Fleece also earns about 9,000 lifetime impressions, against about 3,500 for a tee.

What is the best promotional item to give away?

No single item wins everywhere. ASI's 2026 Canadian survey ranked food gifts first, at 53%. Fleece and jackets followed at 51%, then t-shirts at 49%. Drinkware and blankets rounded out the top five.

What is the most cost-effective branded apparel to buy?

T-shirts and caps tie at about 0.33 cents per impression in ASI's U.S. data. Fleece comes close at 0.4 cents and earns far more impressions per piece. Polos cost the most per impression, at 0.7 cents.

How much do custom t-shirts cost in bulk?

Merch Express lists custom t-shirts from $5.65 each at 500+ pieces. Bulk discounts apply to the order total. You save 5% from 25 pieces, 10% from 100 and 20% from 500. Request a quote for exact decorated pricing.

Is embroidery better than screen printing for logos?

It depends on the garment. Embroidery suits polos, caps and jackets, where a stitched logo looks premium and lasts. Screen printing costs less per piece on bulk tees with 1 to 4 colours. DTF handles full-colour artwork.

Are company logo shirts tax deductible in Canada?

CRA treats logo t-shirts given to employees as small items outside the $500 non-cash gift limit. Branded jackets and fleece count toward that limit. Ask your accountant whether your business can deduct the cost.

How many shirts should each employee get?

Cover a full work week, plus one spare. One electrician on the Mike Holt contractor forum put it plainly. "Don't give me four shirts for a 5 day week." Staff who run short will wear something else.

How many shirts should I order in each size?

Collect sizes from your team before you order. Guessing a size curve leaves you with extra larges nobody wants. Add a few spares in your two most common sizes for new hires.

How long does it take to get custom shirts?

Standard production at Merch Express takes 10 business days. Rush production takes 2 to 9 business days. Same-day production is also available for urgent orders.

Can Alberta employers charge staff for work uniforms?

No. Alberta's employment standards rules say no employer may reduce an employee's wages to pay for uniforms. That covers buying, renting, cleaning and repairing required clothing. Personal protective equipment is the one exception, and it needs written authorization.

Can I order custom apparel in Canada with no minimum?

Yes. Merch Express has no minimum order, so a single shirt is fine. Discounts start at 25 pieces and step up at 100 and 500. Production happens in-house in Calgary and ships across Canada.