We've chosen five young Canada-based designers and studios to watch, after seeing their work that includes a wooden ping-pong table and furniture made from mushroom mycelium at design events in Toronto.
The Canadian commerce capital's annual celebration of design comprises two coinciding events. This year, the IDS Toronto trade fair took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from 18 to 21 January, and the citywide Toronto Design Offsite festival ran from 16 to 22 January.
Both aim to foster new talent from across the country and North America. Here are our picks of the bunch:

David Mazel Tov chair. Photograph by Laurence Poirier
Louie George Michael
Originally an architect, Louie George Michael moved to Canada to study cabinet making and primarily uses maple wood In Toronto this year, he exhibited his lifeguard-like David Mazel Tov chair, which features two vertically arranged rattan seats oriented in opposite directions to one another.
The designer's other products include the maple wood Tina Burner table that can also be used for ping-pong matches.
"I try to make furniture fun by playing with scale and function," he told Dezeen. "I invent and create everything myself by using the inherent qualities of the material as the source of my concepts."

Coracle bench. Photograph by Matthew Tammaro
Jake Whillans
Jake Whillans combines wood with other natural materials ? like tanned leather, cast bronze and soapstone ? to create pared-back furniture an...