Let’s face it, Canadians are angry about the tariff threats and potential trade war with the United States. Many realize there isn’t much they can do personally, but they can make a difference when shopping. There’s a growing trend right now to “Buy Canadian,” and retailers are cashing in. Many stores are putting up signs highlighting which products come from Canada in an effort to get shoppers to support the cause, and to buy those products.
 

It’s an effort, albeit a small one to strike back at the U.S. but what impact will it have?
 

Sylvain Charlebois, Canadian professor and researcher of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, believes about 7 to 9 per cent of Canadians shoppers will boycott those American products in the store. He says that’s not going to have much of an impact on the cost of the Canadian products in our stores as a result. Charlebois says one thing that is happening is Canadians are now reading the labels. They are educating themselves about what it actually means to be a product of Canada versus prepared or processed in Canada. He appreciates how that will get more people interested about the Canadian food industry.
 

The big problem for Canadians might not be fight the tariffs, it might be fighting the barriers of interprovincial trade. He says about 70% of the food made in Canada gets exported to the United States. He doesn’t believe there will be tariffs on Canadian food, but it will impact our dollar and that will have an impact on our imports. So we could see the price of fruits and vegetables going up.
 

Charlebois says it’s easier to sell food to the U.S. than it is to other provinces in Canada. He cites transportation rules as a big obstacle. The rules vary from province to province right down to the hours you can actually transport goods to the temperature with which they have to be stored.

He cites alcohol sales as one many Canadians will be familiar with. It’s difficult to get a bottle of beer made in Alberta into stores in Quebec, and vice versa.
 

Charlebois says for 25 years he’s been telling any MP who would listen to fix the supply management problem in Canada. He believes the key will be to harmonize the management at a federal level and to dismantle the provincial boards and democratize the system. Tradable or sellable asset quotas could also help. He believes that would decrease costs for the retailer and the consumer because you’ll be getting more choice domestically.

 

Charlebois says we went through a similar Buy Canadian spree in 2017 and it too eventually faded away. Regardless of how long it lasts, Charlebois and his team at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab predict food prices will climb another 5% in 2025.