Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, has announced initial commitments from the country's top five grocery chains to stabilize food prices, just in time for Thanksgiving.
"The cost of groceries has risen drastically over the past years, and Canadians are struggling to put food on their tables. Canadians are rightfully frustrated by this situation, and we are implementing solutions to bring relief to them," Champagne said. "I will continue to keep a close eye on Canada's largest grocery chains, the food processors, and other industry actors to make sure that the price of food in Canada will be stabilized," he added.
Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart, and Costco have assured that in the coming days and weeks Canadians can expect to see aggressive discounts on household staples, price freezes, and price-matching campaigns. The federal government added that if results aren't seen through these initiatives additional actions will be taken to restore food price stability.
The government also plans to create a Grocery Task Force through the Office of Consumer Affairs. This would be a dedicated team that would monitor, on a monthly basis, the actions taken by grocers and other key players in the food industry, including manufacturers.
The team would also be tasked with investigating and uncovering practices that hurt consumers. This includes "shrinkflation" (where the size of a product is reduced while the price stays the same) and "dequaliflation" (the deliberate degradation of the quality and nutritional value of products to reduce costs).
A Grocery Code of Conduct will also be established by the government with the intent to support fairness and transparency across the industry.
In an effort to become more transparent, the government plans to improve the availability and accessibility of data on food prices and the cost breakdown throughout the Canadian agri-food supply chain. This data will be provided through a partnership involving Statistics Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and key partners in the food system.
Champagne said he believes that all industry actors are responsible for bringing relief to Canadians, while ensuring that actions taken to stabilize food prices will not negatively impact food producers and workers and not involve anti-competitive behavior. He added that he will continue to work with grocery chains, food processors, and other industry actors to stabilize food prices.
"It's just the beginning," said Champagne.