By Paul Vieira


OTTAWA-Canada's industry minister says he expects amendments to the country's antitrust laws to help competition-law authorities "confront abuses in the marketplace," especially as they pertain to the grocery sector.

The remarks are in a letter from François-Philippe Champagne to the head of the Competition Bureau, which is in charge of enforcing Canada's antitrust legislation. The letter, posted on the social-media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, said the country's largest grocers "have not, to date, been sufficiently transparent about the causes of food inflation, and they have failed, for the most part, to provide regular updates on initiatives aimed at stabilizing food prices in the country."

Champagne said strong earnings in Canada's grocery sector "indicate that there are more opportunities to bring relief for Canadian consumers." He added he wanted to speak with Matthew Boswell, Canada's competition commissioner, about forcing the country's biggest grocers to provide more data about the state of the industry's financials. Handing the Competition Bureau the power to compel such data was among the changes Canada's parliament approved last year to the country's antitrust laws.

Representatives for Canada's publicly-traded grocery-store owners - Loblaw, Metro and Empire - didn't immediately respond to Champagne's remarks. In testimony last year to parliamentary committees, senior grocery executives said the Canadian sector is one of the most competitive in the world, and that companies had plans to offer lower prices on some staples.

Champagne and other senior Canadian officials pledged last year to push the country's largest grocery-store owners to contain price increases in food staples. Officials warned that a failure to respond could trigger tax measures targeting the sector. The incumbent Liberal government is struggling in most public-opinion polls, with the cost of living cited as a top priority.

The most recent inflation report indicated Canadian food prices rose in December 5% from a year ago, or a slowdown from food inflation of about 10% recorded earlier in 2023. Food prices are about 22% above levels recorded in early 2020, or just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Supply-chain strains and the war in Ukraine were two contributing factors lifting food prices higher in recent years.

At a press conference in the capital, Champagne said he was confident that the antitrust watchdog would "take full advantage of the new powers granted to them to further address the concerns of Canadian consumers. When it comes to the price of food, you can count on us to continue to keep the groceries' feet to the fire."

Champagne also floated the idea of trying to lure a new foreign-based grocery-store operator into Canada, with the aim of driving competition. Walmart and Costco operate retail outlets in Canada, as well.


Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-29-24 1455ET