Centura vs Olympia Tile: How to Choose

What they share

Both are Canadian, both build glazed porcelain and ceramic tile, both run from small mosaics to large format, and both are rated for floor, wall, residential, and commercial use. For a standard porcelain floor or wall, either brand gives you a tile that will last. Where they separate is the format, the finish, and the setting the tile is going into.

For your home: floors, walls, and backsplashes

At home, both are strong and the choice is mostly about the look. Centura is deep in stone, marble, and concrete looks, and it carries large formats and slabs that make a modern kitchen or bathroom floor look more continuous, with fewer grout lines. Its softer European finishes, like lappato (a gentle semi-polish) and polished, suit a feature wall or a fireplace surround that you want to catch the light. Olympia brings looks Centura is lighter on: wood-look porcelain planks for a living room or hallway, 3D textured wall tile for a backsplash or feature wall, and agglomerated marble. For a kitchen floor, a bathroom, a backsplash, or a mudroom, both work well, so pick the tile you fall for.

For commercial and high-traffic projects

For a busy space, both are rated for commercial use, and each has a real strength. Centura is the easier pick when grip has to be documented or the project goes outside: it publishes a slip rating from R9 to R12 on every product, so you can match the floor to the traffic, and its 2 cm, or 20 mm, outdoor paver line is built for patios, pool decks, rooftops, and restaurant terraces that take freeze-thaw. Olympia is the easier pick for an interior floor that takes heavy wear, because its through-body coloured-base porcelain carries the colour all the way through the tile, so a chip on an office or retail floor does not show, and it publishes ISO 10545 test data to spec against. For a hotel, an office, a restaurant, a lobby, or a retail floor, either works; the deciding factor is usually grip and outdoor versus chip resistance underfoot. For a high-traffic or commercial floor, we will help you match the rating to the space.

The ratings that help you decide

If you like to choose on the numbers, this is the clearest difference. Centura lists a slip rating (R9 to R12 on the ramp test) and a shade-variation rating (V1 uniform to V4 substantial) on its products, so you can pick the right grip for a wet floor and the right consistency across a large area. For a wet floor, a shower, or an entry, look for R11 or higher. Olympia publishes ISO 10545 test data, including water absorption and abrasion resistance, and offers the through-body porcelain that hides chips. Porcelain from both absorbs 0.5 percent water or less, which is why it handles bathrooms and exterior doorways.

Whichever you choose, tile only lasts if the base and the setting are right, so the membrane, the flat subfloor, and the grout are the real work. Our in-house crews install both, for homes and for commercial spaces, across Mississauga, Barrie, and the surrounding areas, and you can see Centura and Olympia side by side at either store before you decide.

Frequently asked questions