Canada needs more competition to keep food prices down: report

Canada’s Competition Bureau says the country’s grocery sector needs more competition to help keep food prices down. The sector is controlled by large players and needs government assistance to encourage new independent stores to bring down prices.

Tuesday’s report was the result of a probe launched last year when concern over food prices hit a boiling point.

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One of the country’s leading researchers in the grocery sector, Sylvain Charlebois said, “The report states the obvious. We need more competition, and I think the question is, how do we get there, how do we actually create a more competitive market.”

The bureau found that consumers are paying the price for that lack of competition. Since 2020 the amount the average family of four spends on food annually rose from over $12,000 in 2020 to over $16,000 this year. Which is around a $4,000 jump.

The bureau recommended four broad policies today aimed at creating competition in the sector.

• Establish a grocery innovation strategy aimed at supporting new types of grocery businesses.
• Encourage the growth of international grocers and independent grocers.
• Mandate harmonized unit pricing requirements, which will make it easier for consumers to comparison shop for deals.
• Limit property controls which currently makes it difficult for new grocery stores to open.

Charlebois says the bureau recommendations are important, but says it missed out on addressing the relationship between retailers and suppliers.

“I think the big elephant in the room is really about price fixing, I think the biggest urgency right now is consumer trust, the eroding consumer trust,” Charlebois said.

The bureau says any change will take time which is cold comfort for Canadians struggling to make ends meet.