In late January, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and the country’s premiers urged people to “choose Canada” by purchasing Canadian products amid the growing threat of U.S. tariffs.
“There are many ways for you to do your part,” Trudeau said on Jan. 22. “It might mean checking the labels and picking Canadian-made products.”
With U.S. tariffs now in place and counter-tariffs in effect, shoppers who took that message to heart are scrutinizing labels — and, at the same time, many are asking the question: Is there a premium on patriotism? Marketplace has received dozens of messages in recent weeks from consumers wondering if they’re now paying more for the same products because they’re, to varying degrees, Canadian.
“I would like an investigation [to see] if ‘Buy Canadian’ is just another fancy marketing tactic,” wrote one user on Reddit.
Another sent us an email saying they feel like “Canadian items have gone up in price, some seem to increase weekly.”
So Marketplace analyzed the prices of thousands of grocery products labelled as Canadian at one downtown Toronto Loblaws store from the start of the year.
While nine out of 10 products remained the same price — and about two per cent decreased in price — Marketplace found the regular price of hundreds of products have increased since governments put out the call to buy food made in Canada. Some are from Canada’s most iconic brands, including Tim Hortons, St-Hubert, Swiss Chalet and Chapman’s.
Marketplace spoke with several economists who all said it’s impossible to know for sure if a premium is being applied as demand soars at home for Canadian products, because many factors — like how processed an item is and whether it’s affected by U.S. levies — are at play when it comes to pricing. They came to different conclusions about whether the demand for Canadian products might explain the price hike. Manufacturers say it’s the grocers who decide the price tag and the grocer, Loblaw, denies raising grocery prices due to the demand to buy Canadian.
But Colin Mang, an assistant professor of economics at McMaster University, said it’s clear people want to buy Canadian products. He points to a recently published survey of 9,788 Canadians conducted by Caddle for Dalhousie University in Halifax, which found that roughly 60 per cent of respondents were willing to pay a premium for Canadian products over American alternatives.
According to Mang, that gives retailers an opening to raise prices.
“Consumers, when they see that little Canadian flag next to the product, I think that really increases their desire to have that product,” he said. “There’s this big ‘Buy Canadian’ movement and Canadian manufacturers and retailers are poised to take advantage of that. They can charge higher prices.”
Loblaw, which owns several grocery banners, including No Frills, Fortinos, Independent, Real Canadian Superstore and Zehrs, said it started rolling out the maple leaf logo online and in stores in early February to indicate whether products were prepared in Canada.
Marketplace found that between Feb. 3 and Feb. 10, multiple Tim Hortons products at the Loblaws store rose in price.
One hot chocolate mix jumped from $15.99 to $17.99. The same Tim Hortons hot chocolate mix also increased in price twice on Voilà, a food delivery platform owned by Sobeys operating in the GTA, in late March and early April.
Two different sizes of French vanilla cappuccino mixes increased by 50 cents and a dollar respectively at Loblaws. Later in the year, on March 31, Tim Hortons caramel toffee coffee pods also went up in price from $12.99 to $13.49 through Voilà.
Michael von Massow, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies the economy of food, called the timing “unfortunate.” He said coffee has become more expensive because of a weaker Canadian dollar and its vulnerability to climate change, which is causing production issues.
Mang said he thinks grocers increased the price due to consumer demand, because the price of raw cocoa was falling during the February increases, and while transportation costs may have marginally increased, wages held steady.
Michael Oliveira, director of communications at Tim Hortons, told Marketplace in a phone interview that retailers set the price in the store — not the manufacturer.
Oliveira declined to explain how Tim Hortons determines the price it suggests retailers use or if that suggested price has changed, instead noting coffee and cocoa commodities are at or near all-time highs in terms of cost.
Manasvi Thakur, a spokesperson for Sobeys, called the idea that the price increase was the result of demand for Canadian products “blatantly false” and said “there is always volatility within the cocoa and coffee sectors.”
Thakur added that when a supplier submits a cost increase, there’s a comprehensive process to validate those changes before adjusting prices.
In an email, Loblaw said the cost of ingredients, labour and more factor into pricing. The company explained that while ‘prepared in Canada’ coffee pods are roasted and packaged in Canada, the beans are imported and have seen significant cost increases over the past year.
Two St-Hubert products — a chicken pot pie and tourtière — and a Swiss Chalet chicken pot pie all increased in price from $7.99 to $8.99 between March 10 and March 16 at the Loblaws location.
“I think you could likely attribute that one more to an increase in Canadian demand,” said Stuart Smyth, a professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Saskatchewan.
He said tariffs likely wouldn’t have affected these products at the time.
Von Massow said he didn’t think any of the products would require lots of imported ingredients or be subject to significant tariffs but added it’s unclear to pinpoint why the price increased.
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Speaking on behalf of St-Hubert and Swiss Chalet, Josée Vaillancourt, St-Hubert’s communications director, said in an email the company hasn’t increased the price on these products and wouldn’t share details on how it determines a price, describing it as a “long, comprehensive exercise that we do not take lightly.”
Vaillancourt said retailers ultimately decide the price seen in the store and said most have policies preventing suppliers and retailers from discussing retail prices.
She said that tracking prices at one store doesn’t indicate a total market increase or decrease, noting that errors do happen.
Loblaw did not specifically address the price increase of these products in its email to Marketplace.
Some products from Canadian ice cream maker Chapman’s also increased at the Loblaw location — despite the company saying in early March that it would absorb immediate cost increases due to tariffs and hold prices steady.
But Marketplace found that while some Chapman’s ice cream products actually decreased in price, three no-sugar-added, lactose-free Chapman’s products jumped in price: vanilla ice cream, vanilla ice cream sandwiches and double dutch ice cream increased from $7.99 to $8.49 at the Loblaws on March 25.
Pascal Thériault, an agronomist and economist at McGill University, said the price of ingredients like sugar has fluctuated, and Mang noted how other dairy products have risen in price, all of which may have impacted the cost of the Chapman’s products.
Von Massow said he thinks the store may have raised the price with the demand for ice cream growing as warmer weather nears.
Ashley Chapman, the company’s chief operating officer, said he occasionally gets emails from frustrated customers about higher prices given Chapman’s promise. While he understands why people might feel upset or confused, he said the retailer dictates the price in the store. He said Chapman’s products would see a “huge” price increase if the company wasn’t absorbing the cost of tariffs.
He also said shoppers shouldn’t assume a price increase by grocers is “nefarious.”
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He said grocers may be accounting for the fact that prices will likely drop between May and September, which is when manufacturers like Chapman’s are investing more money in promotional strategies and pricing to compete with each other and match the higher demand for ice cream during the summer.
Loblaw did not specifically address the price increase of these products in its email to Marketplace.
Mang said people may be willing to pay more to ‘buy Canadian,’ but that doesn’t mean they want to see a rise in price.
“People do mind paying higher prices,” he said.
Thériault said customers should try and buy ingredients and foods that involve less processing to save money and avoid fluctuating prices.
