Canada introduces new online tool to help you keep track of food prices
As Canadians continue to battle high grocery costs prices, three federal agencies have released a new online tool to provide consumers with up-to-date information and data on food prices in Canada.
The Food Price Data Hub aims to help Canadians make “informed decisions about their food purchases,” according to a release.
The tool is a collaborative effort between Industry, Science and Economic Development Canada, Statistics Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It contains several key trends in food inflation as well as the average price of staple food products, such as milk, white bread, rice, chicken breasts, and bananas.
Food Price Data Hub
It also has the latest release of the Consumer Price Index and features information on year-over-year changes in food supply chain prices.
The tool comes as the federal government is pledging to take “more action” if grocery chains don’t lower prices and increase competition.
Last month, the feds revealed its action plan to stabilize food costs, which included establishing a Grocery Task Force, a Grocery Code of Conduct, and introducing targeted legislative amendments to the Competition Act with Bill C-56.
In September, Canada’s industry minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, met with the heads of Loblaw, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart, and Costco to discuss skyrocketing grocery prices.
The grocers agreed to work with the federal government to stabilize reasonable prices in Canada.
The meeting was prompted by an ultimatum posed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on September 15, warning Canada’s big grocery chain CEOs to create a plan to steady prices or face repercussions.