"We need competition": Feds reveal action plan to stabilize grocery prices
As Canadians battle sky-high grocery prices and a soaring cost of living, the Government of Canada is working on an action plan to stabilize rising food costs.
In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, shared that he met with five major Canadian grocery chains and domestic and international food processors to plan ways to decrease food prices.
“The cost of groceries has risen drastically over the past years, and Canadians are struggling to put food on their tables,” said Minister Champagne. “Canadians are rightfully frustrated by this situation, and we are implementing solutions to bring relief to them. Our Government is hard at work to make life more affordable and increase competition that would expand choices for Canadians.”
Here’s what the Government has done and what you can look forward to in the future:
Big grocery chains commit to lower prices
Canada’s top five grocers have committed to stabilizing food prices. Firm actions could be proposed as soon as Thanksgiving.
“Each grocer has already identified an initial series of actions that will be implemented in the coming days and weeks,” reads a press release.
“Canadians can expect to see actions such as aggressive discounts across a basket of key food products that represent the most important purchases for most households, price freezes, and price-matching campaigns.”
A Grocery Task Force in the works
The Government is looking to strengthen consumer advocacy by establishing a Grocery Task Force and giving more power to the Office of Consumer Affairs.
The Grocery Task Force will be “a dedicated team with a focus on the retail sector.”
“Its priorities will be to monitor, on a monthly basis, the grocers’ commitments and actions taken by other key players in the food industry, including manufacturers, as well as investigate and uncover practices that hurt consumers, such as “shrinkflation” and ‘dequaliflation,'” said the Ministry of Industry.
Minister Champagne described “dequalification” as a process where the quality of products goes down — a cousin of shrinkflation.
Creating Canada’s Grocery Code of Conduct
The Government will keep consulting with major players in the food and grocery industries to create a Grocery Code of Conduct that makes things fair and transparent.
“The Grocery Code of Conduct will contribute to improving the strength and resilience of Canada’s supply chain. The industry-led process has the power to make meaningful improvements across the whole of the grocery supply chain,” the feds said. “The government looks forward to the implementation of the code and to the results it will produce.”
More transparent in grocery prices
The fourth step in Minister Champagne’s agenda is to improve the availability of data on food prices as well as make it more accessible than before.
This includes accessing cost breakdowns throughout the Canadian agri-food supply chain.
“Building on existing data collection efforts to enhance transparency, improve accessibility and advance analysis, government and industry will launch a food price data hub to better share existing data and new research on the price of food in Canada,” the Government said. “This data will be provided through a partnership involving Statistics Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and key partners in the food system.”
Amending the Competition Act
In September, the Government introduced targeted legislative amendments to the Competition Act. This is meant to address affordability, including in the grocery sector.
Lots of input came as part of a broad public consultation with Canadians and players in the grocery industry.
The feds plan on using this input to create a fairer and more dynamic marketplace to increase consumer choice and affordability.
“Canada needs competition,” stressed Minister Champagne. He said he will keep a close eye on Canada’s largest grocery chains, the food processors, and other industry actors to ensure that the price of food in Canada will be stabilized.
“It’s just the beginning!” he concluded.
Follow Channels and Categories