Parliament Looks to Address High Grocery Prices

The Government of Canada has started the fall session of Parliament with a full court press on affordability, particularly in relation to housing and groceries. Minister of Finance the Hon. Chrystia Freeland tabled Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act on Thursday, September 21, 2023. The bill followed meetings that she and her colleague the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry the Hon. François-Philippe Champagne with grocery store CEOs, as well as an announcement from Prime Minister Trudeau about a suite of measures to tackle the affordability crisis.

The bill is intended to:

·  Give more power to the Competition Bureau to investigate when industries are behaving unfairly, for example where price fixing or price gouging is occurring, and take enforcement action;

·  Remove the efficiencies defense, to end anti-competitive mergers that raise prices and limit choices for Canadian consumers; and

·  Empower the Bureau to block collaborations that stifle competition and consumer choice, particularly in situations where large grocers prevent smaller competitors from establishing operations nearby.

Minister Champagne and the Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food later met with major international food processors to continue efforts “to bring relief for Canadian consumers, and these processors have committed to supporting the government’s efforts to stabilize food prices.”

During the meeting, the ministers emphasized the importance of food processors working in parallel with retailers to support new strategies and actions that will make a real difference to stabilizing grocery prices in Canada. The ministers acknowledged that, while there are numerous challenges, there is a need for greater competition and innovation in this sector. The Minister noted that “actions coming from the processors must not negatively impact small suppliers or the price that farmers receive for their products, nor should they impact pricing mechanisms as determined by supply-managed industries.”