Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada believes that food affordability is a critical issue facing all Canadians and is taking a series of actions to promote the stabilization of grocery prices. As part of this effort, the government has called on companies throughout the food supply chain, both grocers and suppliers, to take meaningful actions to stabilize grocery prices. The nature and scope of these actions will be determined by the companies themselves in the context of a competitive marketplace.
In October 2023, each retailer identified a series of initial commitments aimed at supporting efforts to stabilize food prices in the near term. Individual grocery retailers are taking actions, as determined by them, to deliver on this commitment.
As part of the Government of Canada’s efforts to support food price stabilization, five additional concrete measures were outlined: supporting consumers through additional investment in the contributions program for non-profit consumer and voluntary organizations, creating a grocery task force to monitor actions taken by food retailers and producers, creating a food price data hub to improve the availability and accessibility of food price data, continuing to work on implementing a grocery code of conduct, and introducing legislative amendments to the Competition Act to address affordability.
The Government of Canada will continue to work with stakeholders from the agri-food industry to stabilize food prices in Canada.