Fixing Canada's grocery prices problem: the Competition Bureau's plan | About That

[@ev1900]

Lack of competition is everywhere in Canada, cellphone service providers, insurance companies, groceries, etc.

[@prettyme3150]

May I add Aviation

[@9UaYXxB]

The North American Free Trade Agreement has not brought competition and lower prices to Canada, it has brought take-overs, monopolization, and net loss of control over the economy.

[@TarekMaussili]

The auto industry as well. It varies from region to region, but generally speaking it’s already happening.

[@j2simpso]

@@prettyme3150 Canada arguably has one of the most competitive aviation markets in the world. Tons of international carriers service Canada, and it's now possible to fly foreign airlines for domestic travel in Canada like flying United Airlines from Toronto to Vancouver (via Denver).

[@akdomun]

Canadians are too complacent and not daring enough to start their own competition.

[@AutomaticBadger]

The question is, why did the Competition Bureau and government allow these mergers to happen in the first place?

[@maxineporter8848]

Exactly. Whose interest is the Competition Bureau protecting?? The little consumers?? What did the bureau think would happen with only a few players left in the game. That they would maintain their independence and not talk to one another? How much infiltration of Canadian industries by Chinese investors?

[@Ibarakify]

@@maxineporter8848 The Competition Bureau's commissioner is appointed by the Industry Minister. While independent, in reality, they take their barking orders from the party which appointed them. The Safeway-Sobeys merger was approved by John Pecman who was appointed by Christian Paradis (Conservative under Harper). Pecman also approved the Shoppers-Loblaws merger. The liberals punted him out in 2019 after his term expired and replaced him with Matthew Boswell. Notably, the Competition Bureau under Boswell actually challenged the recent Shaw/Rogers merger but lost in court. It seems like Boswell actually wants to do his intended job. However, rather than our sitting government backing up the Bureau, the approval was then railroaded by Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne: the liberal government rubber stamped it. Blaming the Bureau is a distraction, mostly. It's the Liberals and Conservatives who are approving these mergers through their ministers at the end of the day.

[@JayandSarah]

They have no legislative power. It's just good feelings.

[@Eric-lx8hp]

One just happened between Shaw and Rogers looks at the liberals answer to tht

[@elliotjordan2326]

The competition bureau doesn't manage mergers. A merger is a likely to lower prices as it is they rise

[@SMac86]

In the mean time the government allowed Rogers to buy up Shaw. Competition is strong across all Canadian industry….🙄

[@rps1689]

The days of capitalism under democracy is long gone; now it is "democracy" under capitalism where we no longer have the tools and structures that used to reduce monopolies and made them divest when they arose. Monopolistic outfits do not want competition, and the government should not be helping them grow especially taking taxes from the middle and upper middle class to do so like we see in the US and Canada. Monopolistic competition is when any product is being offered by a handful of sellers effecting a small competition between them hence very little control from the buyer front.

[@alexinfinite7142]

​@@rps1689yup. Well said

[@MaltaMcMurchy]

@@rps1689 Thank you for your excellent explanation!

[@rps1689]

@@alexinfinite7142 Thank you. Brings to mind a person like Galen Weston wouldn’t survive in the capitalist era before supply side economics. A good capitalist with some scruples exploits innovations and markets, unlike Galen that exploits suppliers, customers and workers. George Weston could have only dreamed of how easy Galen has it in this era of corporate welfare and would probably call him a sponger.

[@rps1689]

@@MaltaMcMurchy My pleasure. One of the most interesting gimmick used by monopolistic outfits is compounded markup where a parent company, inflates and manufactures overhead by means of using too many of its subsidiaries unnecessarily in order to inflate the price several times; a form of hidden price gouging. The most effected products of this is bottled water, baking products, and brand name drugs. Compound markup in not only confined to subsidiaries; we see it also in transport that affects prices on the shelves. Just one of the ways to collectively disguise price gouging as “inflation”. This gimmick does create some jobs, but mostly low paying ones; and also indirectly over time devalues the earnings of the consumer. Price gouging is real, but since the 80’s it has been disingenuously called “pricing what the market will bear”.

[@andrewtorrens7790]

One of the things that isn't mentioned about independent crocera is that suppliers are also a near monopoly, and thus they can collaborate in anti-competative practices as well, in partnership with the big grocery chains.

[@9UaYXxB]

Especially for processed foods, particularly junk foods, particularly cereals. Everything is consolidated. And these processed foods earned very large margins. Buy a bag of potato chips, or a sports drink, and tell me I'm wrong.

[@5309backbeat]

It's all price fixing

[@LeoMidori]

This was something Canada Bread got in trouble with, and Loblaw's pointed the finger at them to not get the heat. Affecting the price of bread alone was systematically price fixed, so it has to be with nearly everything else with the lack of competition between companies.

[@firehot006]

@@5309backbeatso why doesn’t someone call them out on it and take legal action?

[@GlimpseIntoTheirNatures]

​@@firehot006okay...get on that...uniting Canadians against an injustice is like herding cats.

[@ColleenJoudrey]

I'm in Nova Scotia and love being able to shop at the local farm and independently owned grocery store. The prices in each store are more than reasonable and the quality of service is miles above the big box competitors. Bonus is that I save a lot of money by not purchasing the extra stuff.

[@phillipcull8491]

Good same here plus we have a few independent grocery stores that I shop mostly too hardly shop loblaws usually cheaper somewhere else I use reebee

[@100canadianmaplestirup8]

HERE YOU HAVE THE AWNSER! AGORISM GOING AROUND THE SYSTEM AND GETTING HEALTHEIR FOOD AT BETTER PRICES! I THINK YOUD LOVE THE CORBETT REPORT KZbin CHANNLE & WEBSITE; THESE ARE THE SOLUTIONS YOULL FIND THERE; NOT BEGGING THE GOVT TO FIX A PROBLEM THEY CREATED; BESIDES WHO WANTS GOVT TO HAVE MORE CONTROL OVER FOOD? YUK! STAY FROSTY!

[@TheSuperi9]

some people have been saying gateway meat market.

[@ColleenJoudrey]

@@TheSuperi9 Fresh Cuts Market and Hebb's Farm for my area.

[@sometea4741]

Your also keeping the capital in canada and not contributing to the US economy..as would be if shopping at the box stores..good stuff..

[@user-yg1dg6xm2g]

I've been saying for years that the reason why these companies have so many different brand identities is because they want to provide the illusion of choice. If these few companies were transparent and openly acknowledged that the numerous brands they own are all just small parts of their large portfolios, Canadians would probably be troubled about the fact that they have so little choice.

[@gunpreetdhaliwal]

Nicely put in simple words👍👍just illusion of choice here in canada

[@gundam12p]

Blame everyone except Justin Tredaue ?

[@Sarah65615]

Almost every ‘large’ company is the same. Nestle is the same, even for your pets. They produce Ole Roy (for Walmart), O.N.E., Beneful, ProPlan from the exact same food producing manufacturing line……with small changes in the recipe. The prices?? The price differences make you feel like there’s gold in the recipe versus scraps…nope….very little difference

[@JayandSarah]

Most Canadians have never read an annual report or purchased a share of common stock in a company themselves. Quite financially illiterate. It is quite easy to google these companies and understand who they are part of, or who the parent company is.

[@boshkodjordjevich7424]

@@gundam12p What does Justin Trudeau have to do with the market forces of our grocery distribution industry? Many of these holding companies operate a vast portfolio of grocery retailers because they have done complex market segmentation and analysis to influence your spending behaviour. This is a great example how unchecked and unregulated private power, leads to gross abuses in market behaviour. And politicians like Poilievre would rather take cheap shots at politicians that are in power by blaming them - than actually provide a real, material, informed and actionable solution to the problem. You can only blame Hilary Clinton for so long before - eventually - you realize she had nothing to do with anything except become a convenient distraction of the real crisis taking place right under your nose. Pierre Poilievre isn't going to save you from the market. He's going to distract you with cheap excuses. If you're dumb enough to buy into it - you'll get the government you really deserve.

[@absolutelypitiful3837]

Easy: break up Loblaws and Metro. Problem solved. Those problems happened because way too much consolidation was allowed in the first place.

[@rps1689]

There was a time when we had the tools and structure to do so.

[@cantwait]

Great segment! In my opinion Andrew Chang is the best communicator in Canadian news and public affairs television. His style is not just professional, it’s also comfortable and compelling. Due to his pacing and elocution it doesn’t require intense concentration to absorb the information. I compare him to that one school teacher many of us had that managed to make sense out of subjects and concepts we didn’t really understand before. Canadian broadcasters are among the best in the world. Andrew Chang is at the top of that tier.

[@missladyanonymity]

Weird observation.

[@syeina]

​@@missladyanonymitynot really

[@johngalt6525]

Bottle feeding next ....

[@Giovanni-x1]

Yes Andrew is the perfect government left wing puppet. He is really good at talking slowly so that the masses of Canadians who can't think logically for themselves understand the message and the agenda the government is pushing. It is really easy to figure out why the government (and CBC) is pushing this agenda...it is because we know there is very little tax on most groceries and in fact there is no HST on basic groceries...whereas...Canadians pay on average $50 more per month for cell phone service...simply multiply $50 x 35 million people x 13% HST equals $227+ million per month the government would lose on tax revenues.

[@retroballer7166]

I started a spreadsheet and tracked prices from 5 different grocers in my city (all are part of the big 3 comglomerates) and even though week to week there may be sales and differences between certain items, at the end of the day it didn't matter whatsoever which one you shopped at. Your weekly spend pretty well ended up identical week after week. Its totally fixed. They are way smarter than us. They spend millions on algorithms and consumer behaviour studies. It is one of the most technologically advanced industries in the world and it is stacked against us as consumers and all we have to protect us are the you know whats in government. Scary.

[@rps1689]

Makes sense. Though I shop at the same outfit as I did in NB and still buy the same stuff in BC, but my monthly groc bill is about 30 percent less overall. I'm tempted to do what you did here in my town in BC.

[@ethimself5064]

Their bean counters are nothing short of being deadly accurate and have been so for decades.

[@dagothhyde7297]

I only shop at walmart. Prices are goin up but not nearly as bad as loblaws

[@christopher480]

studying us is also why they put a webcam in all the self check outs so they can record your emotions while you are paying for your items. if you ask them why the camera is in the self checkout.....they say its for security.....which is bull cuz theres no way a lil camera can see the whole store...its a webcam they are not set up for that.

[@nickyalousakis3851]

the major grocery stores all operate on one to two percent margins.

[@teresarydberg1450]

This also highlights how competition in Canada in general is difficult. We see the issue not only in groceries but in cell phones and internet providers among other products. Our milk industry does a form of regulated harmonizing, but it doesn't help to keep the prices down because the group regulating keep approving increases.

[@GameTimeWhy]

I'm ok with the milk though since that means our dairy industry isn't propped up by the government like it is in the states. We also have a lot less waste than the states do.

[@AKATenn]

housing too.

[@HanTheProphet]

@@GameTimeWhyeah our price for milk is closer to the true the price than the US What they do to us on phone and internet should be criminal. One of the most developed, happy countries in the world has 2 major service providers and some of the worst rates in the world. Much of the world can get like 100gb of data on their phone for what we pay for “unlimited”(or about 8-10 fast, usable Gb of data.)

[@user-yg1dg6xm2g]

This problem should have been prevented by not allowing these takeovers and mergers to happen in the first place.

[@nibblesd.biscuits4270]

When the government started making laws against farmers selling direct to the consumer, began the corporate stronghold on our ability to source competitive prices. We need laws against lobbies and lobbying. Why should a corporation get to spend millions of dollars threatening our politicians just so they can reap the rewards of the horrible policy that come from lobby groups.

[@someimesIplaygames]

time for a change!

[@whiskeytango9769]

We don't have a grocery prices problem. We have a liberal government problem. Carbon taxes that make transportation more expensive, two years of people not working and supply chains being choked back. Add to that a Liberal government that spent double what was needed to deal with the pandemic, and you have the primary causes for the inflation of grocery prices.

[@maruso2221]

I think it’s also important to note how car-addiction in Canada has contributed to this problem. If you have to drive 20m through traffic to pick up groceries, you’re going to want to grab everything in one stop. Small businesses can’t survive in this environment; they don’t have the selection to be a one-stop-shot, and thus the large chains grow in power. Urban planning is core to this issue and many of our cities and towns have failed in this regard.

[@johngalt6525]

15 minute ghettos will fix that . 😂

[@maruso2221]

@@gnarCR I get what you’re saying, but affordability comes into play at this stage of the cycle. Large Co squeezes Small Co on margin until Small Co goes out of business. Now with decreased competition, Large Co begins expanding margins once again (and we’re seeing this happen now). Allowing for more segments of competition keeps everybody honest; Large Co has to stay low cost to remain competitive.

[@maruso2221]

@@gnarCR yea fair point. I’m not educated enough to speak about specific magnitudes, I’m just saying that increased barriers to entry reduces quantity of competition which in turn leads to adverse outcomes for consumers. Reducing these barriers to entry, in the context of this convo this is retooled urban planning, will increase competition and lead to better outcomes for consumers. Not sure if solving this gets us 5%, 10%, 15% through the problem, but alleviating it would move us in the right direction in some capacity. I agree it’s a complex issue with lots of contributing factors

[@shauncameron8390]

@@gnarCR Smaller stores are "unaffordable" because they can't afford to buy in bulk and they don't have the space.

[@anivicuno9473]

​@@gnarCR Smaller stores can be more efficient though if the crowding effect outweighs the economic efficiencies from buying in bulk. Mom and pop operations don't need layers of middle management, and this economic efficiency might offset the extra costs in maintaining separate stores and extra deliveries

[@mryellow864]

Lack of competition in a market place dominated by 2-3 companies. You can say that about many industries in Canada sadly (telecom, airlines, dairy, etc.).

[@guymontag2948]

As an occasional CBC viewer, I've really enjoyed Andrew's analysis of a few issues now. I feel like he does well in striking the right tone, being abundantly clear and well reasoned on controversial topics, without hammering people over the head with what they should be thinking. Thank you.

[@bobchan1666]

Inspired by Johnny Harris

[@AndyWearsPants]

I disagree. He has a poor grasp of economics and a blatantly left-wing bias.

[@ethimself5064]

@@AndyWearsPants Poor - no. And - A blatantly left-wing bias - no again. He is a realist.

[@guymontag2948]

@@AndyWearsPants Everyone has a bias, including reporters. Just because his bias doesn't match yours doesn't mean you can't learn from him, or that he can't do his best to limit the role his bias plays in his reporting. Of course, you can always change the channel, too. As to his grasp of economics, I'm more interested in a reporter's ability to use experts, and leave their own ego out of it. A reporter may be great with economics but lousy with politics, or what have you. That's why their skill set is that of a generalist who can bring together a story based on people who do know the subject at hand, whatever that may be.

[@kknn523]

The issue really is that you don't want a central entity(competition bureau) to oversee competition. In the sense, that you want it to enforce rules(like a judge), but not necessarily demand for fixes(prosecutor). The competition bureau can easily be corrupted and bribed because it holds the power to prescribe fixes and enforce rules. It's independently funded 3d AND government funded institutions which should be prescribing fixes, and monitoring the competitive landscape.

[@joemasters2270]

We in the US feel your pain, Canada

[@Amir-jn5mo]

We need to break monopoly on the supply chain side as well. Most grocers have to buy their goods from the same supplier which is probably either owned by one of the big 3 or is in price-fixing or special treatment practices with them. Also bring in giant low-cost international grocers like Aldi and LIDL.

[@rps1689]

They own the name brands and the generic brands. And the consumer never knows who they are buying from. In the entire world, 90% of all packaged food sold is owned by just ten companies. The most effective boycotts on this planet could only have a 1% to 2% impact on the bottom line. Competition no longer works the way people think it works.

[@ericl4160]

The competition board seems to be staffed with those supporting corporate greed. If someone would be as ineffective at their job as they have been, they would have dismissed long ago. The oligopoly problem is pervasive across Canada and a blatant evidence of both a failure in capitalism and governance.

[@shauncameron8390]

There hardly anything capitalist about government over-regulation that enables and encourages oligopoly.

[@j2simpso]

Why Gaelan Weston is speaking in front of Parliament instead of behind bars is beyond me. Fact of the matter is, his company was found guilty of price fixing bread for decades and all we got for it was worthless gift cards to a corrupt supermarket chain.

[@rps1689]

Supply side economics is why he is not behind bars. A person like Galen Weston wouldn’t survive in the capitalist era before supply side economics. A good capitalist with some scruples exploits innovations and markets, unlike Galen that exploits suppliers, customers and workers. George Weston could have only dreamed of how easy Galen has it in this era of corporate welfare and would probably call him a sponger.

[@maxineporter8848]

And Weston was noted in the Panama Papers. (set up a foreign bank subsidiary). CRA reassessed Loblaws for $400M and then lost vs Weston in court.

[@23zchris]

​@@maxineporter8848😊

[@scorpius6667]

What the problem is is the big major companies insist on maintaining their massive profits and they could care less about the consumers! Profits are one thing, gouging is what they are doing! This is what happens when big companies are allowed to have a free hand in exploiting the consumers! They can't be trusted to do what is right! The only solution is Government regulation! I also think these big companies should get slapped down hard legally for these business practices! my OPINION without prejudice 🦂

[@shauncameron8390]

Say HELLO to higher prices and less available for purchase.

[@approots]

"The only solution is Communism!" Or we could just, you know, shop around and buy from independent grocers and farmers.

[@Clamps-nn2pz]

I dont think you understand whats happening here. The government caused the problem by screwing around with real free market capitalism and your solution is to regulate what isnt working further? This already has been done many times historically and it leads to higher prices and less overall selection.

[@ethimself5064]

@@approots Noooooo. It has never worked - never. Any political system the same sour cream always rises to the top

[@sometea4741]

The US grocers should get slapped down hard and maybe be booted out of canada..all they do is drain the cdn economy..all our dollars are just leaving to US BANK ACCOUNTS.. Bad, very bad..because as we know once they have it its not like theyll reinvest in anything for canada..its a pure drain..plug it.

[@paulh2468]

Canada started off as a monopolistic corporation 400 years ago: The Hudson's Bay Co. Nothing has changed, Canada is still dominated by large monopolies and oligopolies. The solution is a much larger consumer population. More competition is impossible if there's not enough customers. Immigration has been the main solution for Canada's problems for 400 years, as well.

[@9FatraBbits]

In January (2022) I bought a 50 lb bag of Canadian Large Flake Oats for $23.00. I’ve always bought staples in bulk for my large family. In January 2023 this same bag of oats was $52.00. Last week, almost 18 months later I bought same product for $70.90! I live in southwestern BC.

[@evieshore3270]

Wow that's just crazy !

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Hint: the production cost went up 5 percent. The rest is pure greed.

[@johngalt6525]

Voting Liberal and ndp will do that . Bread lines next variant...

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@johngalt6525 Stop lying. Your CPC lives for big business and corporate profiteers. It's none of your business how people vote.

[@apprenticephil649]

How much money has the government printed in 18 months? How much Carbon tax?

[@SA-ks9vz]

Only shop at locally owned stores that stock local produce. It keeps money in the community and keeps prices down over time. It may cost more initially until enough people make the change.

[@pqunit]

If only that was easier to do

[@roberthutson9463]

What local and independent grocery stores? Yes, there are farmers markets but most aren't year-round.

[@SA-ks9vz]

@@roberthutson9463 Our city has around a dozen small (4-5 aisle) independent local grocery stores. Most small towns have at least 1. You may need to actually google to see which local independent grocers you have.

[@timothymarcoux6569]

And that's why I go to a Lagoria once in a while here in Montreal.

[@punjabigrandma]

How about get rid of the carbon tax and clean fuel standard, directly reducing costs of shipping

[@ashsmee]

HOUSING PRICES HAVE GONE UP 200% IN THE LAST 5 YEARS!! WE ARE NOT DOING WELL!!!

[@minimaxmiaandme.4971]

No, they haven't.....

[@benjaminz248]

Harmonized unit pricing... like how meat sections have sales in $/lb but then the packages are displayed in $/kg so you can't really compare them without a calculator

[@Candy.A.]

Also what I believe is adding to their profits are Self-Check Outs. Free labour from consumers allows for less money to be spent on the number of employees (benefits etc.)

[@rps1689]

They have many ways to increase financial gains with accounting gimmicks and schemes.

[@Vaibhav199327]

So you want them to pay minimum wage to people for work that is no longer needed.

[@rps1689]

@@Vaibhav199327 No longer needed by who? Customers have needs also like that of human interaction; it's part of customer service. Do you think the savings are passed down to the consumer by using automation? I have been to some stores in the US where you get a discount for using self serve, as you are doing the job of a cashier; mind you this was in areas where labour was more valued.

[@farouqnimer]

As someone who buys goods in bulk and in the 100s of million of dollars, believe me most raw material prices + fruits and vegetable prices are near pre-pandemic levels. Which means they are no longer as expensive as they used to be during the peak of the pandemic. So although prices went down, businesses didn't adjust their prices downwards. When costs went up, businesses readily increased their prices, but when they went down, businesses did nothing to fix them. Also, government doesn't care too much because higher profits = higher tax revenues.

[@tessb3914]

Wow, well that is disheartening :/

[@briankroger7879]

We never had these problems before Trudeau took office. Do you really think putting a carbon tax on top of a carbon tax is not going to get passed down to consumers? Everything is trucked in. Food, goods etc.

[@travisarthur3250]

Don't kid yourself, you're talking about a dream that never existed. Probably imagining a time when u lived with mommy and daddy and things were actually affordable. corporations, conglomerates and corporate socialist policies have cultivated this environment for the last 4 decades. We're just seeing the results now

[@boshkodjordjevich7424]

Yes - all of these market forces have been here for years - long before Trudeau took office - but you weren't paying attention. Truth is, we've been spoiled in Canada. We've enjoyed low rates of grocery inflation for decades. This is a complex problem - and it exists because capitalism operates on a concept of private and unregulated power. Corporations operate beyond government control. Just because it happened while Trudeau was in office doesn't mean he had anything to do with it. This level of collusion has been decades in the making. It took a perfect storm of a global pandemic, rising inflation, a geopolitical crisis in Ukraine and a global housing crisis to pour fuel to the fire. It doesn't matter who is in office - this would have happened anyway. Trudeau had nothing to do with this. Hillary had nothing to do with this. The immigrants had nothing to do with this. The "woke" had nothing to do with this. And anyone telling you that they - alone - can fix it - is lying to you. The question is: how desperate are you to be willing to believe them? Do you see the situation for what it actually is? Or do you see it for what you want it to be?

[@Malcrom1967]

I've been saying it for years. Canada is designed around shafting the consumer. Whether it's the businesses or the tax system.

[@yepyep2921]

Totally on point. I feel like Canadians are the new Hebrews living in Egypt. Slaves to the system.

[@kknn523]

Exactly. The grocers realize the competition bureau is mediocre. So they just price fix.

[@9UaYXxB]

Canada is effectively a branch plant country.... of the country due south. We don't have hip-pocket governance, but we have impotent governance.

[@j2simpso]

Well at least we have rock solid consumer protections. I mean if you buy something brand new, you don't have to rely on a manufacturer's warranty or good will. There are reasonable expectations for how long a product should last and when it doesn't the manufacturer has to make it right... oh wait I'm thinking of the UK and Australia again. Sorry about that!

[@AK-pz7om]

@@j2simpsoI really envy EU consumer protection laws

[@chris2030]

when it's 3 there is a back door deal where they all agree to what works for them. I'm surprised you didn't mention record profits made in the past few years. All 3 together made over 3 billion in profits if they made half of that then the other half could have reduced prices instead of passing the cost to the consumers. its all about greed, war isn't affecting prices most of our products come form USA, Mexico and china

[@DRPL766]

A major reason why target failed is because it's extremely pricey to operate a business in Canada. There are many other examples of big companies failing in Canada. Tear down the red tape and taxes!!

[@raybrown2839]

Good story. Didn’t mention that house brands (eg Compliments in my Thriftys aka Sobeys) occupy more and more shelf space. Quality down, profits up. I don’t agree with one point he made: not traveling more than 15minutes for groceries. Once a month I drive an hour to a nearby city to visit a supermarket that has certain foods not available nearby. As for pricing,a few stores have unit prices displayed, but in TINY print designed to be ignored. Canada needs to get cracking on breaking up monopolies. Including tri-opolies.

[@jane-annarmstrong295]

Honestly I was just in the US and we went to a grocery store .. yes some things where cheaper but that’s in American but some stuff was almost the same price as Canada or more I think all countries are dealing with the same thing 🤷‍♀️

[@approots]

Exactly. Notably, he didn't compare Canada's grocery prices to other countries.

[@johnnolan5579]

So true, but everyone will blame Trudeau.

[@Amir-jn5mo]

I wish they address the lack of investment in agriculture and logistics as well. Do people not read the shitshow that UK and EU has been having with their food prices?

[@shuki1]

That is incredible. We used to always drive down the the States to buy cheap groceries. No more...

[@wabiscotiapottery]

Yes, was in Florida this winter and the groceries were the same price (and then add the exchange rate! 🤑)

[@julielevesque2668]

Walmart sells one grapefruit for $1.97 in Montreal right now, most grocery stores sell the same grapefruit for $2.50 and I saw Metro grocery store selling the same grapefruit for $3. How come Walmart can stay in business and not charge $1 more per grapefruit?

[@arcticmonkey3]

They buy in bulk just like Costco.

[@canadianroyaldecor3583]

The problem with housing in Toronto and all of canada is this toxic and dangerous 'mass immigration'. We're trucking in unskilled immigrants by the hundreds of thousands if not millions per year now. It's insane! All businesses that grow extremely fast in an unbalanced way all fail. It's the same for countries. We simply don't have the housing for our current situation not to mention continued mass immigration. We moved from Toronto to closer to Niagara for better housing affordability. It worked but we pay through the rough for gas now and there's no daycare out here. We live in a daycare desert. It's common in the burbs and it's not ok. Gen Z and Millennials are going to pay for these old Boomer ideologies. It's because boomers failed to repopulate adequately that they justify mass immigration. It's the boomers that are the ones saying that we need mass immigration to continue having a workforce in the economy otherwise our standart of living will decrease by 20%! It's the biggest BS! There's no data behind their theory. It's all theory. Don't listen to them. The more people that come into canada skilled or unskilled the more housing costs increase and so does the rest of costs of living. Don't listen to the boomers. They are the problem. Gen Z complains that less then 3% of housing is being Airbnb'd. Thave no idea what mass immigration has been doing to housing and what it will continue to do for many years unless it's stopped!! Dangerous and toxic mass immigration is what we need to be talking about.

[@bernardkung7306]

Isn't "bringing in foreign competition" just kicking the can down the road -- and then in 10 or 20 years, we're complaining about how prices are high because there's not enough competition in the North American grocery market?

[@digibyteforlife]

Mr Singh (not sure if i spelled his name correctly) was literally shut down after he said the profits are incredibly high and unnecessary

[@jeffevio]

This was a very informative segment, thanks for covering it. I feel like this topic has been on nearly everyone's minds in the last few years, and yet ain't nobody got the time to go out and highlight some roots of the problem and potential avenues for solutions.

[@tammy-lynnstewart5677]

I live in a small town in Ontario. Years ago we had 2 grocery stores. Since IGA got gobbled up by Loblaws (Valu-Mart here).. I am not sure on the details but we cannot even get another grocery store here because of some (law?) put in place preventing another grocery store from being set up here. So .. Valu-Mart can continue to rob us near blind for groceries. Going to a bigger city is out of the question for many because many seniors and other pensioners do not have a means to travel there, plus the cost of paying gas for a ride is getting steeper. Not everyone has the luxury of booking the day off work to drive people to the city to shop for free. Half of us have to work 2 jobs to make ends meet. Another thing many grocery stores are doing is pricing stuff "2 for xx$" So in order to get the lower price, you have to buy 2. If you want only one such product, you pay a higher price. This hits seniors and single folks pretty hard because many things, singles or seniors won't even be able to consume that amount of product before some of it goes bad. (fresh produce has to be the worst for this tactic because of the limited shelf life)

[@darkglass3011]

This is why I shop at the Chinatown market for fresh produce. You can get the same thing for cheaper, just don't take the lazy way out and shop at the big grocery store just because you're used to shopping there.

[@kamleshkhopkar5681]

Government should bring concept of MRP.. Any item cannot be sold beyond Maximum Retail Price..

[@johnnolan5579]

If only Aldi would move into the Canadian market. They have infiltrated the American market, but I assume they consider the Canadian one too spread out and not large enough. Would be nice if they did. I'm expecting Dollarama to start branching into frozen foods like dollar stores in the U.S.

[@syeina]

Honestly Dollarama could make even more of a killing by doing that kind of thing

[@LeoMidori]

@@syeina Dollarama is part of the problem. Pepsico is too damn big and their prices are also roughly the same as what's available in grocery stores, at least in my area of Northeastern Ontario.

[@judyives1832]

Instead of buying from huge corporations, support local farmers and food businesses. In my area, we have a local farmers market that DELIVERS !! and two small businesses selling prepared meals using local products. I fill my small chest freezer with local produce and meats twice a year, grow a very nice vegetable garden in my backyard and get three reasonably priced, custom prepared, delicious meals per week. I’m a blind senior and I have not shopped in a chain grocery store in several years. I can’t afford to do that and why buy less nutritious food for more money? A few tomato plants in your garden will produce more than you can use and freeze. And if you buy local when the food is in season, (corn and peaches are very inexpensive right now) and support local businesses , everyone benefits. If you buy in a supermarket, Weston gets another jet and no one else gets anything. (This was amply demonstrated by how uncaring the chain style stores were to their employees during Covid. ). Wouldn’t people rather work for themselves, than for these huge corporations? STOP buying from them! There are better options that will do so much more for you!

[@tessb3914]

​@@judyives1832 these are great ideas, nice to see someone with solutions and a will to fight

[@carolinepaton9718]

As the prices have skyrocketed on food, I find that I have changed my buying practices. I walk by the items that are so high as to be ridiculous and stay with the basic items. I stay away from pre packaged goods and prepare at home. There is so many ways to economize and long ago people knew how to do this. The abundance of food presented to us in the stores was never the norm nor is it necessary. The only way these companies will ever learn is to stop buying anything more than the necessities.

[@H8891H]

Do an episode on the rising cost of home insurance please!

[@tdkx]

Just like everything else in this country there's no competition. Canada's a horrible place to do business so the dominant local players keep grabbing a bigger chunk of the pie.

[@KM-sr9cc]

We need DEFLATION in this country and not inflation to bring consumer prices down from HIGH real estate prices to food, energy/utilities, and taxes. We keep hearing that Inflation is going down but we actually don't see any changes of relief in our daily lives. - Food prices are not coming down. - Taxes are not coming down. - Gas prices are not coming down. - Utility costs are not coming down. - Rents are not coming down. - Home prices are not coming down. - Prices of goods and services are not coming down. - Nothing is coming down, in fact, everything is going up and up. These inflation numbers released by BoC are MISLEADING the Canadian public, in fact, those numbers do not reflect the lives of Working- Middle-Class Canadians at all.

[@u686st7]

I've always been surprised that Aldi has never taken a shot at the Canadian market.

[@Stonkberg]

Just steal groceries. Your hunger is more important than their profits.

[@James-nv1wf]

The backdoor alarm at my local Walmart is ringing every visit. I do feel like a chump paying if ppl are not, but if they lose enough money perhaps they'll get the point.

[@artsandculture26]

Prices of even the basic commodities keep increasing consistently as if most people in Canada are well-off to afford the ever-spiraling price increases of grocery items. Who dictates such price increases and should these happen frequently? What's even more disgusting is that supermarkets manipulate the prices of items, making it appear that consumers buy certain items at a lower cost if they buy for example 4 cans of Boyardee Ravioli. But if they buy only one can, they end up paying the regular price. It's very seldom that fruits and vegetables are sold in retail; these are usually sold by bulk at a seemingly discounted price. What if consumers like me don't need a lot of bok choy, baby mustard, okra, zucchini, etc because I cook for my spouse and me only. Because these are perishable, they can't be stored in the ref. for a longer time and it's boring to be eating okra for the rest of the week just so they won't be thrown away in the green bin. I hope, the manufacturers and the supermarkets will sincerely consider the welfare of their consumers/customers as they think of increasing their profits by not always passing on the latter the burden of their expenditures. The customers without gainful jobs as source of income have no way of coping with this financial crisis as do the people with income but whose income has remained stagnant. Have mercy!

[@shahrukhashraf5712]

How about the same scrutiny for banks, insurance companies, telecommunications companies, and government!

[@user-py7mz8oj7o]

4:02 we don't need to see "he/him"...

[@vintran9777]

It's time for a price cap.

[@shauncameron8390]

And subsequent shortage.

[@catherinewilson1079]

So where was the competition bureau 5 years ago? Someone’s been asleep at the wheel!

[@rps1689]

Some one was greased; )

[@thekinghmimidou7001]

Break down the big corporations into smaller entities

[@greeneggsandhammond]

I never thought I'd have a favourite news anchor but here we are. The Borg comment was 👌.

[@johnransom1146]

I disagree with bringing in foreign competitors. Subsidize farmers markets and small local food stores, even cafes that have food carts or mobile services for apartment blocks. Make it very distributed distribution. Remember the big chains have price fixed bread in the past. Who knows what they’re up to now.

[@Marie-ml3zg]

How about removing Safeway caveats so when they close down another food store could open on its previously owned property. Edmonton comes to mind.

[@yellowbug5113]

We are being ripped off in the US also. Same story.

[@nathanfranck5822]

This piece is a breath fresh air, not used to this from CBC

[@ethimself5064]

Among the best food stores I have ever shopped at in Vancouver were the small Ethnic stores. And they are all over the place.

[@Amir-jn5mo]

I recently moved from Toronto to Vancouver. The food prices in Vancouver are truly insane. The lack of local supply chain and the non-existance of Metro stores in Vancouver is really felt by me. In Toronto, I could find canned beans under 1$, Juice under 3$ and milk under 5$. Even yogurt I could find under 3$ in Toronto. In Vancouver, oh boy, I checked so many small and big grocers and except for fruits and vegetable which I think are actually very competitive, the price of other foods are through the roof.

[@rps1689]

@@Amir-jn5mo It's all relative. If find groceries cheaper in Vancouver than when I was in NB, ON must be heaven for grocery prices.

[@Amir-jn5mo]

@@rps1689 Ontario is the logistics power house of Canada. Literally all our companies equipment and shipments are coming off of Mississauga.

[@rps1689]

@@Amir-jn5mo I hear ya. When I was in NB, product that came from ON and distributed from ON for some reason was usually cheaper in BC than in NB. And the distance to NB is greater. Also some products from NB was cheaper in BC than in NB!

[@themajesticend491]

Food is a basic human right. Grocers making record breaking profits while canadians starve is disgusting.

[@shauncameron8390]

No it isn't. You don't have the right what someone else produced.

[@themajesticend491]

@@shauncameron8390 Grow your own food and purify your own water then

[@shauncameron8390]

@@themajesticend491 Follow your own advice. No one is owed anything.

[@mediterrenean]

the same issue in grocery, telecom and other markets. One have to ponder what are the fundamental issues breeds these ubiquitous situations.

[@merevial]

Competition Bureau: "Someone should do something about the lack of competition in this country, maybe there should be a bureau for this" You cannot make this stuff up folks.

[@fringe_minority]

Walmart still has decent prices

[@marianfrances4959]

Mega stores suck. Long lineups suck too.

[@shuki1]

The issue is less about the chains and more about the consolidation of suppliers. People should also be more flexible to switch brands.

[@peterfets4799]

2 issues, the printing a trillion was first, always leads to higher prices. Canada's been an oligopoly haven for years. Next banks and communications, but they will lobby feds to keep competition out

[@chinesememer]

The whole point of corporation is pooling money together instead the shareholders form their own business and competing. Just raise corporate tax and eliminate private businesses tax already. Also sales tax from private business should be halved. This should not be just retail, but all industries.

[@andrewvermey2366]

I just don’t want to pay for groceries the amount I pay for rent, and my rents doubled in 3 years…

[@Beautylifestyle222]

Even DOLLERAMA is going up to 5 dollers 😢😢😢

[@mebighobo9841]

they missed save on food. who owns save on food?

[@shauncameron8390]

Jim Pattison.

[@tchevrier]

maybe the government shouldn't have let these mergers happen in the first place. Kind of like how West Jet just bought Sunwing and shut them down.

[@shantomathew87]

This can never be solved since the govt is so relaxed with this, even 40% of the economy are fine with it since they all are above average income. The remaining 60% are and will keep struggling with the grocery and can't argue or fight about it since they are completely occupied in their 2 3 jobs. Everyone else you see in this show earn more than 60k annually and won't have much trouble in buying a $3 bread with a $7 milk! All this drama FOR NOTHING!!!

[@darrelladams4886]

How about the effect of the carbon tax which raises operational costs all over the place and gets passed onto consumers

[@timothymclaughlin2869]

The competition bureaus suggestions are completely useless. The grocery store chains need to be brought to heal, and if that means finding the heck out of them to do it. If food prices keep trending in an upwards margin, you’re going to see food riots within the next decade.

[@d.virgallito3490]

What happens when we gave up self reliance. My mom grew up on a farm, during the depression, food wasn't a worry, as they raised everything themselves. Grocery stores maybe be convenient, but it was better when people grew their own vegetable's and meat. They also fished, and hunted and trapped their meat.

[@Anonymous_Whisper]

All will become illegal or very costly

[@guymontag2948]

Realistically, there isn't enough good land for most people to do that. The efficiencies of modern farming vastly improve yield per acre. As an aside, you may not love what you're actually able grow where you live or eating it out of a can half the year.

[@Anonymous_Whisper]

@@guymontag2948 .... Canada can. We have plenty of space.. plenty of good land. The "modern farming" you speak of... Do you mean bill gates? And all his farm land in u.s.a..? Or the fertilizer reductions by w.e.f? Like shrilanka.... Or the Netherlands.. the Dutch.... Farmers.. you talking about that super duper new method... 💀💀💀☠️☠️☠️

[@guymontag2948]

@@Anonymous_Whisper I'm more talking about fields that measure in the hundreds of acres and machines that can routinely harvest them in a day. Stuff like that. Lots and lots of stuff like that. If everyone has their own little plot, it's just far less space and labor efficient. Besides, as I mentioned, I personally don't want to live an agrarian lifestyle, and certainly not at my latitude.

[@shauncameron8390]

Good for you, but not everyone can farm or really need to. Hence, commercial farming. Grocery stores are a necessity in the city.

[@someguy604]

I just buy less at the grocery store, can't afford every week so my diet is suffering. This one time grocery money is a joke

[@bkm2797]

We have the same nightmare going on here in the U.S., everything has at least doubled and it continues to go up.

[@rps1689]

One of the reasons I left NB. Even though price gouging is going on in BC, most groceries are still about 20 to 30 percent less and the quality and variety is much superior to what the Maritimes is getting. You know something is fishy when you can get some products from the Maritimes cheaper in BC than in NS or NB.

[@bkm2797]

Yep they all got on board the Greed Train!

[@rps1689]

@@bkm2797 Sounds like a song.

[@bkm2797]

rps1689, Lol, now that you mention it I can think of two songs; Love Train by the Ojay's and Peace Train by Cat Stevens and I love them both. Cheers

[@sjbutler2330]

Not as bad as Canada!!!

[@mariahung2946]

what isnt getting the Canadians ripped off? the phone companies, energy conpanies, petro companies, grocery companies. what do they have in common? there are only a few of them and they are the majorityvof all. is that not monoploly? do we have a choice? small mom and pop shops get taken down by these big firms. what competitions? whi can fight against them?

[@S-Lewis]

In Edmonton we have Save on Foods, H&W, and some co-op or private grocery stores, and a couple grocery delivery services . Sadly, Superstore undercuts them and its all the competition that's too expensive.

[@leop2229]

We need laws that prohibit monopolies and large mergers. I believe we had such laws and they were gradually dismantled.

[@shauncameron8390]

Canada's policies enable and encourage monopolies.

[@rps1689]

We used to have the tools and structures that used to reduce monopolies and made them divest when they arose. Monopolistic outfits do not want competition, and the government should not be helping them grow especially taking taxes from the middle and upper middle class to do so like we see in the US and Canada. Monopolistic competition is when any product is being offered by a handful of sellers effecting a small competition between them hence very little control from the buyer front.

[@sakibshahab3065]

A major unaddressed issue is land use. In the vast majority of the country (often due to local government decisions) shops are zoned for a disproportionately tiny area, usually small strip malls on major roads. This artificially jacks up the price of commercial real estate, pushing out small competitors and necessarily increasing prices to maintain profitability. Expanding commercial zoning to just the corners of residential areas (corner stores) not only combats this but also aids in making the grocery shopping experience more affordable in another way. When your grocery store is a close walkable distance you save on transit (gas, bus fare, etc.).

[@user-gd6rp5cqp]

Supply chain disruptions, COVID, gasoline persecution and green bullying is causing food cost troubled.

[@mandeepbal8340]

This is all done by Design, if you take a look at the grocery store aisles they're only owned by one or two companies

[@rps1689]

Conglomerates can’t even be boycotted into going bankrupt. They own the name brands and the generic brands. And the consumer never knows who they are buying from. In the entire world, 90% of all packaged food sold is owned by just ten companies. The most effective boycotts on this planet could only have a 1% to 2% impact on the bottom line. Competition no longer works the way people think it works.

[@pqunit]

That has to do with suppliers, distributors etc. The "conspiracy" is much simpler - it's a borderline monopoly.

[@___David___Savian]

For Canada not to fall into the trap most countries have fallen into when it comes to high prices, Canada has to stop receiving imports from other countries wherever possible. The reason is because other countries sell their products in Canada and then take those profits OUT of Canada leaving less money in the economy. Plain and simple. I understand that Canada has a very harsh weather environment which makes growing crops very difficult. But, Canadian companies have to grow their food in enclosed areas. Build giant see through buildings for the sun to enter and the weather to stay out because global trading will destroy Canada the same way countries like Argentina and others have become bankrupt.

[@apprenticephil649]

When the public understands whats causing inflation then they will stop blaming the grocery stores for rising prices

[@rps1689]

When the public understands how accounting schemes and gimmicks hide profits and allow price gouging, they'll start blaming a tax regime and banks for years of insane low interest rates.

[@electricerger]

I'm still hoping for improvements to urban design and zoning to allow for more densification in traditionally suburban places. It should allow small businesses to get more foot traffic and not have the massive overhead of worrying about supplying subsidized parking.

[@beyondtherhetoric]

How big is Overwaitea and Save-on-Foods relative to this? Are they only a BC thing?

[@missm2795]

We have a government problem in Canada. Thats the real cause

[@lorenzomabalos9851]

Good luck trying to get Aldi and Lidl to come to Canada.

[@Sam19509]

Lol even Target, Nordstroms and Lowe’s couldn’t survive here.😂

[@WilliamStewart1]

Start supporting local farms, I've started to see a lot of them setting up to sell privately now. The people need to band together to solve thier own problems, enough with these greedy corporations and useless governments.

[@Kreepie11]

Yup. Tried to do price comparisons myself for a while, but the amount of effort vs reward just isn't worth it. I had a spreadsheet with a column for each grocer in my area and rows for what we were after - had to go to each website individually and then calculate the conversions in-sheet. It was a mess, and took absolutely FOREVER.

[@mitch500]

Meanwhile Trudeau spends $55k a year on food for him/family, That's $4,800 a month. Gtfo

[@brianbondy5667]

There is NO COMPETETION in Canada, Period. Look at our phone, internet and t.v prices. Some of the highest on the planet.

[@rps1689]

Unfortunately companies like Loblaws to a great extent has a stranglehold on the country. Canada has a distorted and pernicious form of competition. This is because it has primarily an economy of monopolistic power that limits real capitalistic competition. Monopolistic competition, is what we are primarily seeing in Canada, which is when any product is being offered by a handful of sellers effecting a small competition between them hence very little control from the buyer front.

[@Valkyri3Z]

Its weird it feels like a lot of the industry sector in Canada is controlled by few conglomerates .. in telecom in grocery and in all of these sectors prices keep soaring while govt is inactive . Canadians pay insane amounts in phone bills and food bills compared to other countries. Yet no one does anything

[@rps1689]

Monopolistic competition is a major concern. It is when any product is being offered by a handful of sellers effecting a small competition between them hence very little control from the buyer front. No lack of this in the US. A few examples to name a few would be only three companies control about 80 percent of mobile telecoms, four companies control over 80 percent of corn and seed sales. Then there is global monopolistic competition where only ten companies in the entire world, sell 90% of all packaged food sold. Competition no longer works the way people think it works.

[@Valkyri3Z]

@@rps1689 Sad to say bit it is almost like an oligarchical system despite Canada being a democratic country.

[@rps1689]

@@Valkyri3Z Yep.

[@Giovanni-x1]

Why doesn't the government fix the lack of competition in the cellphone industry? Canada pays one of the highest rates in the world. These rates affect more than 35 million people in this country and the government does nothing to fix it because it generates massive tax revenues. Canada ranked 2nd lowest in the world for food inflation in 2022 but government (and there partner CBC News) chooses to make this an issue.

[@Valkyri3Z]

@@Giovanni-x1 I am not sure if tax revenues is the main reason. Squeezing tax out of citizen's pocket makes no sense because more telecom companies in a flourishing telecom sector will also generate more revenues and jobs. Why limit it to few big groups.

[@tonpetitami]

Bob Loblaw is a grocery store?

[@JA-mq9ti]

Our society is a joke. Greed consumes all behaviour at the top. Unbelievable.

[@shauncameron8390]

Just like apathy and envy consume all behavior at the bottom.

[@JA-mq9ti]

@@shauncameron8390 What are you trying to say?

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@shauncameron8390 Parasite

[@shauncameron8390]

@@RideAcrossTheRiver Loser.

[@omegashenron8]

@@JA-mq9ti he's trying to gas light you into thinking you're the bad guy.

[@farouqnimer]

Just curious, why not have government owned/operated grocery stores to regulate prices and pressure rates downward?