Canadians to pay more for groceries in 2024

December 8, 2023December 8, 2023canada, canadian economy, Canadians to pay more for groceries, expensive groceries, food prices in Canada, groceries in canada, Grocery prices, paying for groceries

Galen Weston Jr., the chair of Loblaws and a former CEO, has once again warned all Canadians that everyone in Canada will spend more at the register, not less, if and when Canada implements its planned Grocery Code of Conduct. The federal government’s Agriculture and Agri-Food branch proposed the code earlier this year in response to “pressures facing the food supply chain” that have resulted in higher prices for consumers. The code consists of a set of mandatory and enforceable standards to hold the major players in our grocery oligopoly more accountable. Are expensive groceries the future for Canadians?

Expensive groceries in 2024

Even if Loblaws chair does not fulfill his warning and does not increase grocery prices on his end, Canadians most likely will pay more for groceries next year. Although the cost of basic necessities has decreased, astute consumers should still be able to get some deals at the grocery store in the upcoming year. However, the average Canadian family’s grocery spend is expected to rise by almost $700.

This is the key finding from the fourteenth edition of the widely followed annual report on the food sector, which was published by the universities of Dalhousie, Guelph, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.

According to statistics from Statistics Canada, the consumer price index’s food component has increased by 5.9% during the previous 12 months.An yearly healthy food basket for a family of four—an adult man and woman, a teenage boy, and a preteen girl—is calculated annually by the report. Lead researcher Sylvain Charlebois and his colleagues predicted last year that, in 2023, the average family will spend $1,065 more on food, totalling $16,288.40 annually.

Grocery stores for and against new government regulations

While Wal-Mart and Loblaws have so far refused to comply with the future code, Metro and Empire Food Co. (the company that controls Sobeys) have agreed to do so. Multibillionaire Weston and his colleagues claim that the regulations might result in sticker prices rising by more than $1 billion in total. The billionaire addressed the issue once more on Thursday in the House of Commons, claiming that Loblaw Companies Inc., the parent company of Loblaws, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, and other brands, and its rivals have been unfairly blamed for exorbitant food prices.

Although he agreed with the code’s fundamental idea, Weston claimed that some of the conditions will increase Lobaw’s costs, which will then be passed along to customers. This is true even if the company’s profits have increased by tens of millions every quarter this year compared to previous, and he himself received a $1.2 million rise in 2022.

For how many years to come will Canadians see price hikes and expensive groceries? That is a million dollar question, but if nothing changes in government policies, grocery prices in Canada will not simmer down. Home prices, rental cost, energy bill and other utilities are not getting any smaller while Canadians struggle more with finding good quality employers who pay decent wages. Truckers across the country are struggling to mace ends meet, factory workers keep struggling for years in Canada, teachers and schooling system employees could sing a song about low wages, now the back bone of the country, construction and maintenance sector, small businesses are left without contracts and paying clients. Where does it end? Few years ago we have seen small business owners migrating from being butchers, hair stylists, construction workers, even teachers becoming realtors because real estate promised better pay and less worrisome life, but now that real estate is not lucrative any longer, what are realtors going to do?

Is everyone going to be a new police officer? Police across Canada has been understaffed for years, struggling to find enough recruits, with economy being on decline, perhaps the new job migration will be government job of some sort, particularly in law enforcement. Do Canadians have a choice, probably, keep struggling with expensive groceries, high cost of living, being jobless or go to a paying employer who has a good job security record.