Written by Ambre Montespan - Updated on Jul 6, 2026
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Are you looking for an artisan who makes handpans in Canada? Do you live in this part of the world and want to get in touch with one or more of these professionals? Exactly how many people are crafting this metal percussion instrument in Canada?
Having played the handpan for more than 10 years now, I’ve taken a deep interest in the artisans who handcraft this sound object in Canada. So, I can give you a list of these makers that also summarises what sets each one apart, including pricing and the different tunings they offer.
Unlike other countries such as France, Germany, or the United States, Canada has very few manufacturers. These makers, such as PANacea Sonora and Solos Handpans, can almost be counted on one hand.
After reading this entire article, you’ll learn:
- Who the different Canadian handpan makers are
- The different services they offer, as well as their history
You’ll also be able to choose one to visit, if you’d like, even if just to see how they work the metal to ultimately create one of these wonderful percussion instruments.
Now, it’s helpful to list all the artisans who craft handpans in Canada.
Who makes handpans in Canada?
When we think of the countries that matter in the small world of the handpan, Switzerland naturally comes to mind first, followed by Germany, France, Spain, and the United States. Canada rarely comes to mind, and yet there are indeed artisans active in this country. It’s therefore worth introducing them one by one.
PANacea Sonora, the Montreal voice behind Boréal handpans
In Montreal, Jocsan Riviera leads PANacea Sonora, the workshop behind the renowned Boréal series. His signature approach can be summed up in one sentence: he does everything himself, from the first hammer strike to the final adjustment. And he tunes by ear. No software makes the decisions for him: just his ear, period. The result? Instruments that players describe as rich, vibrant, and truly distinctive. Several say they get more comments on their Boréal, a C# Celtic Minor, for example, than on the rest of their collection combined.
This is a far cry from a generic, interchangeable handpan. Here, each piece has its own voice. Riviera doesn’t limit himself to handpans, either: he also crafts gongs, sometimes designed to interact with his pans and share the same bass line. The workshop is deeply rooted in the Quebec community, where he works hand in hand with Pierre-Olivier Bolduc, a multi-instrumentalist, handpan pioneer in the province, and founder of the group Handpans Québec. In short, for a locally made instrument with real character, this Montreal workshop is well worth noting.
Solos Handpans, the Jamaican odyssey of Prince Edward Island
Pepeto Pinto, the artisan behind the Solos Handpans brand, is Jamaican. He grew up with the steel pan, and he says without hesitation that this instrument saved him. As a teenager, he was already playing it and learning to tune it from an elderly master maker on the island. Then a violinist changed everything. A native of Prince Edward Island whom he met during a jam session, she brought him back to Canada with her. It was in Montreal that he encountered the handpan for the first time. The connection was immediate, but moving from the steel pan to the handpan took him three years of trial and error before he truly mastered it. Today, his workshop has been operating in Winsloe, a suburb of Charlottetown, since around 2014. Each order takes anywhere from a few days to a month to complete. Budget-wise, expect to pay between 2,000 and 6,000 Canadian dollars. Check out a video of one of Pepeto Pinto’s creations:
DOMEpan, the Gatineau blacksmith who makes metal sing
If there’s one Canadian maker who embraces his identity as a blacksmith before that of a handpan maker, it’s Jean-François Bertrand, better known by his pseudonym JF-RisingSun, who heads up DOMEpan. And for good reason: before devoting himself to percussion instruments, he spent about fifteen years working with wrought iron and art objects, a background that comes through in each of his creations. Based near Gatineau, with a workshop open to visitors in Saint-Léon-de-Standon in central Quebec, he has been crafting handpans since 2017. His catalogue is undoubtedly one of the most adventurous in the country, as he tunes his pieces on different types of materials, allowing him to offer an especially diverse sound palette, with a raw series (Tribal) and a high-end stainless steel series (Elite).
The standard diameter is around 56 cm, but he prides himself on producing just about every size and shape imaginable, including mini-handpans and instruments with truly experimental sounds. A thoughtful touch: he lets customers approve the sound of their instrument before shipping and tunes many of his instruments around 432 Hz, a frequency cherished by fans of meditative sound. He also repairs and retunes all kinds of metal instruments, from handpans to gongs to Rav Vasts.
PeacePans and CanPan, the Hamilton artisan making the instrument more accessible
Head to Ontario, just outside Hamilton. That’s where Luc Dupuis has been hammering his handpans since 2013, in a workshop located a few minutes west of the city. He’s happy to repeat his rule: everything is done by hand, blow by blow, without a single pneumatic hammer. Each PeacePan is therefore one of a kind, forged entirely in Canada from stainless steel, and comes with a lifetime tuning guarantee. It’s hard to show more confidence in your own work. His fully handmade PeacePans start at around NZ$4250 and are aimed at experienced players, sound practitioners, and collectors.
Treat yourself to an excellent instrument crafted to perfection
Canada will likely never rival the density of makers found in Germany or France, but it’s not the desert some people imagine. In fact, thanks to this article, you now have a few contacts for professionals who show remarkable creativity in crafting instruments on Canadian soil.
That said, production lead times can be very long, and prices can be quite high. For anyone looking for handpans that are easy to access and affordably priced, I personally recommend the brand Instruments du Monde, which offers dozens of high-quality models. One of my favourites is the stainless steel handpan, which features a fantastic D Kurd tuning and, unlike nitrided models, requires virtually no maintenance.
Get to know this handpan now by clicking on the image below:
Now that you’ve taken these tips into account, do you know the difference between a Hang drum and a handpan? I invite you to find out in this interesting article that explores the historical roots of this sound object.
