Agriculture Committee on Oct. 20th, 2026

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Based on the data from the food price data hub that you provided, I think it's clear that the entire sector is doing its utmost to ensure food affordability. However, everyone has to accept the reality of fuel prices, including diesel. From farm to table, several tanks of diesel are needed, particularly for tractors, trucks and distribution. If we want to address food affordability, we'll have to find solutions for the cost of energy. This is a message for the government: If it still wants to cut taxes, that would be welcome news for consumers.

As you said, this website is a government initiative. I don't remember who announced it. Has the government already announced it, or is it purely a departmental initiative? Sometimes, departments come up with good initiatives, too.

[Étienne-René Massie]

This initiative has been in place since 2024, I believe. It was launched as part of the government's work on grocery stores at the time. That said, it was a project that had been in the works for some time at Statistics Canada, which wanted to provide Canadians with greater price transparency.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Okay. This is an initiative that really comes from Statistics Canada, in other words, a department. The government hasn't done much and doesn't have much of a leadership role to play in this regard.

Are a lot of people visiting the website? Is that surprising?

[Étienne-René Massie]

I looked at the website, but I didn't ask my friends at Statistics Canada for the latest statistics.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

It would be important to know this, so I encourage you to send the information to the committee. If the site is visited by a million Canadians, that's wonderful. However, if it's visited by 225 Canadians, there may be questions about the cost-benefit ratio.

However, that doesn't detract from the tool's value. Perhaps it should be promoted more often. The first time I heard about it was here. Given the ratings at this time, few Canadians will learn about this tool tonight. I might promote it myself, but we'll certainly study it.

Ultimately, the food price data hub indirectly addresses part of our colleague's bill. It's about having more transparency regarding prices, making more informed choices and comparing food prices from province to province. It doesn't necessarily allow for comparisons from one city to another. However, there is a price difference because of the cost of transporting certain foods. I can tell you that fruits and vegetables are quite a bit more expensive in Gaspé than in Toronto.

[Étienne-René Massie]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

I think you've run out of time. I'm sorry, sir. The time is done.

Mr. MacDonald is next.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the witnesses for coming today.

Welcome to my colleague, Mr. Saini. Thanks for bringing this bill forward for this discussion.

I'm going to take a direction that's a little different. We've heard a lot on shrinkflation and the different components so far in our discussions, but I wonder if unit pricing will help us identify areas in which the retail sector is strong-arming small food processors across the country.

I come from an area with small food processors in Prince Edward Island, and I know of the struggles that the processed sector has in putting food on the shelves. The consumers in Canada want to buy local. In everything from Abacus Data that we've seen, that's their wish. To go along with that, then, we need to know that the large retail chains aren't putting undue pressure on the food processors.

Now, they brought in the grocery code of conduct. It's a good measure. Will unit pricing, in unison with the grocery code of conduct, give us a better indication? We should be able to see when a retail margin is too high compared to other jurisdictions.

What's your opinion on that?

[Étienne-René Massie]

Thanks for the question.

The standard unit pricing as it is designed is to help inform the consumer to make purchasing decisions when they visit a grocery store. It is always on the retail shelf that you will find the standard unit pricing, and the standard unit pricing will be adjusted as the price of the item fluctuates up and down.

In itself, the grocery code of conduct is probably a stronger tool to get a better understanding through the reporting that the chief adjudicator will provide on an annual basis. This will give us a better idea of costs within the food sector than the standard unit pricing will. For standard unit pricing, we would probably need to have a system in which we register the price on an ongoing basis to track the fluctuations up and down.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

There's really no ongoing analysis done of standard unit pricing in the grocery stores by any agencies that you're aware of.

[Étienne-René Massie]

Well, I'm not sure if StatsCan disaggregates to the unit level, but they do track food prices across Canada on a monthly basis for consumer price inflation reporting.

The government has a very long history of collecting this information so that we can track prices over time, but I'm not sure if StatsCan disaggregates to the 100 grams or 100 millilitres.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Understand that I'm identifying it as an issue because in my past life, I was a primary producer. Because of the negotiation process that goes on between the retailer and the processor, the price at which the retail sector can buy those products is not always known.

Anyway, I'll move on to something else.

Mr. Saini brought up the point that food literacy is tied to food security. Will the public education component of unit pricing help seniors, youth, young families and vulnerable communities identify a good value in the grocery store?

[Étienne-René Massie]

I believe that if the Government of Canada and provinces and territories move to a standardized approach for standard unit pricing, Canadians will begin relying more and more on those measures to make informed decisions between grocery stores, and even within the grocery stores, for the different products that they add to their food baskets.

If we move to something that's more systematic across the food sector, Canadians may continue to rely on it and see it, and we will build trust in the value and help them make those informed choices.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

As a further comment, in many rural and smaller communities, this legislation would have to have an exemption for those smaller mom-and-pop grocery stores. Some of them buy from the larger retail chains, so it would already have unit pricing, I assume, when they purchase it and resell it in their own store.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

We're out of time, so I'm going to stop it there.

Thank you, Mr. MacDonald.

We'll go to the Bloc for two and a half minutes.

Go ahead, Mr. Lemire.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a question for both of you, Ms. Beecher and Mr. Massie. What are the obligations of food companies regarding the origin of food? My question concerns the process. How are determinations made and verifications carried out for the product to be labelled “Made in Canada” or to display the maple leaf?

[Sophie Beecher]

It depends on the requirements and the definitions. You probably have them in front of you. There is a label, “Product of Canada”, for which I think 98% of the ingredients have to come from Canada. In addition, processing must be done in Canada. There is another one—I have the name in English—

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

This isn't a trick question. It's a real question.

[Sophie Beecher]

Yes, of course. There are different definitions.

There may be other label statements, including one requiring that the main ingredient come from Canada or the final processing take place in Canada. So I think that's what can be confusing for consumers. They don't necessarily have the definition at their fingertips while shopping.

That said, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulates this aspect and conducts these verifications.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Are genome editing elements or biological standards currently among the criteria assessed for mandatory labelling requirements?

[Sophie Beecher]

When it comes to organic foods, there is a standard to follow and it is established through regulations. That is well established. There are other definitions that aren't, so consumers need to be informed. Processors also have obligations and must provide an accurate description of their products. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency monitors this type of behaviour.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I'd like to hear your comments on a Quebec-based company, Trema, which makes coffee beverages, but primarily milk-based ones. Its competitor is Starbucks, which imports American milk. Starbucks in Canada consumes 5 million litres of American milk. Starbucks imports what's called a milk-based beverage as opposed to a so-called dairy product, even though over 75% of the product is milk.

Isn't that something we should look at to ensure that we protect the supply of Canadian milk and the consumption of Canadian milk?

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Coteau]

Give a really quick answer, please.

[Sophie Beecher]

It's not my place to answer that question, as you are well aware.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.