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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.).

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.

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.

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.

We in the US feel your pain, Canada

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 🦂

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

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.)

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?

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?

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

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.

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 🤷‍♀️

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.

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!!

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.

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

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.

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

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

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)

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.

Walmart still has decent prices

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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

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

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.

This guy is the best thing to come out of CBC!

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

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

weirdly carbon tax was never mentioned once

Also, you can encourage people who can to start a vegetable garden. Maybe tax rebates or something to help with the startup costs. Help for small farmer's markets too.

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.

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.).

Online is certainly one place where Canada lags. Where we live it's the exception when I would go to a physical store; most of the time it's ordered/delivered via an app and then you can for sure compare different stores & also check for whatever happens to be on sale on that day/week/etc in the same interface. Being able to compare across stores might be interesting especially if there is then that integration to go and buy those things directly.

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

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

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

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

it is the natural evolution of businesses, we see it time and time again. In theory companies grow by being innovative - new products, better products, better delivery systems, customer service, etc., but in practice this tends to only be true at the early stage of a company's growth. Like anything else, the more you grow and perfect your business, the harder it becomes to improve it further, and so the main strategy for large companies to further grow is just by swallowing smaller players in the system. Perhaps absorbing their innovations, but mostly just directly swallowing their market share. The larger they grow the greater the risk of undue influence on politics and criminal, anti-competitive practices. We see this among the telecoms too, where the largest players are de facto public institutions. So large and so integral to modern life in this country that Canada - its people and its government - cannot survive without them. It's a dangerous game for a country to play: so much power in so few hands.

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.

The other thing they dont mention anywhere here is COSTCO, the other day we bought 2 boxes of cereal of 1 KG each so 2 KG for 7.99$... that is insanely cheap compared to normal groceries store such as loblaws that sells a box of .57 KG for 8.49. Someone should look into that one!

Thank you for the information! Surely we can make a change!

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

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.

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.

This makes me more determined to source out as many locally made and independent food sources as possible. Its low emission, humanely raised, organic, etc... but its expensive.

I'd love to see the harmonized priceing and requirement to make that information public spread across most things. Really interesting idea.

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

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced measures to control rising living costs. While food prices are indeed a significant factor in the cost of living, it is important to consider the impact of energy prices, such as gas and diesel, as well. Energy prices can have a substantial influence on the overall cost of goods and services, including food. By addressing energy prices, it may be possible to alleviate some of the financial burden on consumers and potentially reduce food prices. It is worth noting that the relationship between energy prices and food prices is complex, with various factors contributing to fluctuations in both markets. However, taking steps to manage and stabilize energy costs can be an important aspect of addressing living costs and supporting economic stability.

It's a challenge. We should probably look at the rules that allowed us to get down to just 3 major players in the first place.

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

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

Option 1 only is viable. The unit pricing thing is a nice idea but not when many of them are colluding on prices, ie: bread scandal

Except for those living near or below the poverty line, what the heck are other people spending money on? If you're complaining about food prices, your kids better NOT be in activities, you better be driving a cheap car or not driving at all, you better NOT be taking any vacations, you better NOT be eating out, you better NOT be saving for your retirement or kids' future, you better be buying no name brands for EVERYTHING, you better be growing your own vegetables and fruits if you have space, you better NOT be spending money on keeping up your image (new clothes, make-up), you better value every CENT as if it was worth $100, etc. Sorry, mental health is not a legitimate reason to take money away from food when you're struggling already to feed yourself and/or your kids. Food expense is just ONE of many expenses. I think a bigger issue is definitely housing (and even there, people need to consider moving to cheaper cities/towns). So when we hear stories about prices, I want to know how households are spending their money. Again, if you live near or below the poverty line (and didn't decide to have more children than you could afford), then I feel complaining about food prices is legitimate. Everyone else should revisit how they are spending their money. The minimalists really have it right (of course, if you're super rich this type of video should not even be in your feed LOL).

The government doesn't do enough to help producers. Unless you're part of the already made monopoly of the dairy industry, they don't care about you. My Dad was a rancher/farmer. He tried, to break into his local market with some of the the absolute best beef I've ever had. I have had Wagyu, kobe and a few other top kinds of beef and can say how beautifully it compares in taste but not texture. I have a trained pallet as a 20+ year chef and can tell subtle difference in same type foods, and most food. Why are regulations so impossible to meet for our government? What does ridiculous things like " must be connected to paved road" have to do with product? What farm is connected to a highway....not many. Producers in his province join the coalition to co-op a meat packaging facility owned by the farmers of that province that was also shot down despite having completed all regulations. They don't want things produced locally. Why?

Yes when you can buy 1 dozen eggs in USA for 1.99 there is something wrong with our system

1. Strengthen competition laws: Enhance the Competition Act to prevent anti-competitive behaviors and mergers that reduce competition. 2. Increase regulatory oversight: Strengthen regulatory agencies like the Competition Bureau and Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to enforce laws and prevent monopolistic practices. 3. Encourage new entrants: Reduce barriers to entry for new businesses and startups, making it easier for them to compete with established players. 4. Promote transparency and accountability: Require companies to disclose more information about their business practices and market share, making it easier to identify and address oligopolistic behaviors. 5. Break up monopolies: Consider breaking up companies that have excessive market power, as was done with Bell Canada in the 1990s. 6. Foster a culture of competition: Encourage innovation and competition through initiatives like startup accelerators, funding for research and development, and tax incentives for small businesses. 7. Improve consumer education and protection: Educate consumers about their rights and options, and strengthen consumer protection laws to prevent exploitation by dominant companies. 8. Encourage cooperative ownership and worker control: Support cooperative ownership structures and worker-controlled businesses, which can reduce concentration of wealth and power. 9. Implement progressive taxation and wealth redistribution: Address income inequality by implementing progressive taxation and wealth redistribution policies, reducing the concentration of wealth and power. 10. Foster international cooperation: Collaborate with international organizations and governments to address global oligopolies and share best practices in promoting competition and consumer protection.

Didn’t have this problem before Trudeau

I work for a grocery store and half the time i want to jump intro traffic. lol

So, this video was uploaded 8 months ago. I shop for groceries regularly just like everyone else. I haven't seen any indication that the Competition Bureau has done FA to reduce prices at the grocery store. I also agree that a lack of competition in general (in every industry; not just groceries) is the main reason why Canadians pay so much more for goods and services (i.e. cellphone/internet service, streaming subscriptions, etc) than comparable industrialized nations such as the U.S. This was true before the pandemic, and the situation is only getting worse, but the government doesn't care. Neither the CB, nor any other government organization, is doing anything to hold any of these monopolies to account for gouging the public.

These big grocers should get together and fix the price of essential food. There’s a basket of goods that helps keep the economy stable and I would think larger grocers could absorb unexpected costs or find alternate suppliers if there’s an unexpected issue driving prices up.

They really need to make using the same units for HUP a rule too, Costco does HUP really well, but sometimes there still L to Gallons, or Lbs to Kg or Lbs to 100g or 100g to cup…etc

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

Great video. But, the room for improvement should be made by the service the grocers provide. India has had MRP (maximum retain price) for years. A litre of milk costs the same in any part of the country. Grocery stores can not charge extra and then price match like in Canada (which is absurd). Having that be implemented would have a huge difference. A bottle of water (no matter the brand) would cost the same in every supermarket. Same for everyday essentials.

Grocery prices went higher long before the pandemic because the Harper Government let Loblaws buy Shoppers Drug Mart while participating in the ongoing Bread Price Fixing Scandal. Loblaws to expand SDM’s Canadian footprint with the larger stores actually closed and converted many existing Loblaws Discount Banner locations like No Frills and Maxi stores. Sobeys and Metro literally adjust prices based on the competition and the # of discount stores in any given market. Target also sold groceries in Canada and pulled out of the country during the Harper Government. Canadian Tire tried to enter the grocery market in a collaboration with Sobeys similar to how Loblaws sells groceries through SDM stores but that venture flopped during the Harper years. 😂

Harmonized Unit Pricing sounds like an updated "Price Match". I'm sure they could do more in the taxation department though.

A issue for producers was getting their produce recognized because the distributors for these chains would downgrade or reject any independent food producer simply because. Even those who delivered at the desired level of quality. Money's Mushrooms would put their stock on the side and not even notify the farmers that their produce had been abandoned. It took that family ten years to get reimbursed, and that after they were in court.

Most of the Grocery Prices are due to prices in global commodity market. Grocery stores are on in for a charity. They work on razor thin margin. There is no competition bcus new entrant cant compete on prices. Canada need to reregulate labeling laws outside quebec. If quebec need labels they need to pay out of their own pocket.