With food prices on the rise and consumers in mind, the Competition Bureau of Canada is undertaking a market study into grocery store competition.
The examination will look at how governments could combat grocery price increases through more competition in the sector, the independent agency said in a statement on Monday.
The study will consider:
To what extent higher grocery prices are a result of changing competitive dynamics;
What lessons can be learned from other countries to increase competition; and
How governments can lower barriers to entry to stimulate competition.
“Canadian consumers have seen their purchasing power decline. This is especially true when buying groceries. In fact, grocery prices in Canada are increasing at the fastest rate seen in 40 years,” said the competition agency.
“Many factors are thought to have impacted the price of food including extreme weather, higher input costs, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and supply chain disruptions. Are competition factors also at work? To find out, the Bureau will study this issue.”
The agency, which focuses on protecting and promoting competition in Canada, will be examining this issue over the next several months, with plans to have its findings by June 2023.
Submissions from “interested parties” on retail grocery competition in Canada will be accepted until Dec. 16.
This move comes amid heightened political attention on the rising cost of groceries. Last week, the House of Commons unanimously passed an NDP motion calling on the federal government to take steps to tackle “greedflation,” including asking the competition bureau to investigate grocery chain profits.
As well, the House Agriculture and Agri-Food committee has agreed to take on a study into the cost of groceries and inflation in the food supply chain. As part of this work MPs are expected to call on industry stakeholders including grocery executives, economists, and farmers, vowing to “get to the bottom” of rising grocery costs.
“This is a great step, and I don’t doubt for a second that it is the result of pressure from Parliament’s vote last week,” tweeted NDP MP Alistair MacGregor who was behind his party’s push for the committee study and last week’s opposition day motion.
In Monday’s statement, the bureau noted that the study is “not an investigation into specific allegations of wrongdoing.”
“If we do find evidence during this study that someone may be doing something against the law, then we will investigate and take appropriate action,” the agency said.
TORONTO – Ontario is pushing through several bills with little or no debate, which the government house leader says is due to a short legislative sitting.
The government has significantly reduced debate and committee time on the proposed law that would force municipalities to seek permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a car lane.
It also passed the fall economic statement that contains legislation to send out $200 cheques to taxpayers with reduced debating time.
The province tabled a bill Wednesday afternoon that would extend the per-vote subsidy program, which funnels money to political parties, until 2027.
That bill passed third reading Thursday morning with no debate and is awaiting royal assent.
Government House Leader Steve Clark did not answer a question about whether the province is speeding up passage of the bills in order to have an election in the spring, which Premier Doug Ford has not ruled out.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
