Some blame major retailers like Loblaw, Metro and IGA for ‘greedflation’ phenomenon
Martin C. Barry
Local Journalism Initiative
With the New Year looming and some especially dark clouds hanging over the Canadian economy, the Competition Bureau of Canada as well as the country’s Parliamentarians are proceeding in 2023 with in-depth investigations into whether Canada’s leading grocery retailers have been colluding to fix food prices.
Who to blame?
Experts are attributing the rising costs of groceries (10.8 per cent in Canada over the past year, according to Statistics Canada) to a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting supply chain disruptions, severe weather from climate change, and higher costs for everything from labour to transportation.
And yet, two of Canada’s three major grocery chains posted increased profits in their most recent financial statements. Loblaw reported a quarterly profit of $387 million — an increase of $12 million, or 3.2 per cent, over the same quarter last year.
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