Canadian grocers promising discounts, price freezes on food

Canada’s largest grocery companies have promised to work towards lowering food prices across the country by implementing a range of measures, including discounts, price freezes and price matching, Industry Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne announced Thursday.

The plan from the federal government is being enacted with the top five grocers in the country: Metro, Costco, Walmart, Loblaws and Empire. This announcement addressed the initial steps being taken by both the federal government and the chains in stabilizing prices.

In the announcement, Champagne failed to provide any additional details, including what products will be subjected to these promotions, though he did add that he had started seeing some of these promotions being offered himself.

We know Canadians are frustrated with the rising food prices.

That’s why we’re implementing solutions to stabilize food prices.

We will continue to work with all players in the food industry to stabilize food prices in Canada and make life more affordable. pic.twitter.com/d1G7n9X3mb

— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) (@FP_Champagne) October 5, 2023

When pressed by reporters on how Canadians will know that these promotions are different from those routinely offered by grocers, the minister said he did not want to disclose what each company has pledged to do.

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“I’m saying those are examples of what we see in the plans, because I want the market to compete. I cannot say I received that from Loblaws, I received that from Metro, I received that from Costco, I received that from Walmart,” he said.

“Each grocer has different actions. So it will be up to Canadians to judge them.”

Last month the Liberal government called on major Canadian grocers to present them with a plan to stabilize food prices by Thanksgiving, or be subjected to consequences, including potential tax measures.

Champagne says the government remains ready to act should grocers not take sufficient action.

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With grocery prices continuing to accelerate faster than the rate of overall inflation, many Canadians have been feeling the financial impacts. This has held especially true for lower-income families who on average spend more of their income on food.

Some experts remain skeptical about the changes announced, pointing to concerns over how soon the changes will begin to be felt by consumers themselves.

Food policy expert Sylvian Charlesbois of Dalhousie University says he isn’t confident that Canadians will begin feeling the effects of these changes right now.

“We don’t know exactly how this plan will actually help Canadians right now. In fact, I don’t think it will. Most of the things that were of significance yesterday will help the industry and consumers over time, but there’s nothing really new.”

“We’re not expecting anything new other than seeing grocers trying to aggressively price certain products, really.” says Charlesbois.

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The minister announced additional steps being taken Thursday, including the Office of Consumer Affairs establishing a “grocery task force” to monitor the implementation of company plans, creating a grocery code of conduct and improving the availability of data on food prices.

Champagne did acknowledge, however, that the long-term solution to the pricing issue is to promote competition in the sector. He says the measures taken in price freezing and matching will provide a first step in creating a more competitive marketplace.

“Hopefully even we can have international (companies), which may want to come to Canada. And I’m going to talk to them and say, ‘listen, Canada is a great place to do business.’ If we have more people in the market, Canadians will benefit from that,” he said.

The Liberals recently introduced legislation that would make several changes to Canada’s competition law that is focused on cracking down on anti-competitive behaviours while also making it more difficult for harmful mergers to be approved.

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