Almost all Canadians, 95 per cent, believe food prices are too high, and 97 per cent believe food costs won’t be any lower six months from now, according to a new poll.
The Maru Public Opinion survey found the vast majority, 74 per cent, of Canadians believe food prices will be higher than they are today by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.
Almost 40 per cent of those surveyed believe the heightened food costs are primarily due to price gouging and excess profit-taking by grocery chains. However, more Canadians, 22 per cent, now blame government policies than last year, when just 12 per cent believed the feds were responsible.
Fewer Canadians, 18 per cent down from 28 per cent over last year, say increased food supply chain costs were the culprit of high food prices.
It comes during a month-long boycott of grocery stores owned by Loblaw. The boycott, which started on a Reddit page that now has over 75,000 members, started on May 1.
The boycotters also launched a petition, calling upon the federal government to address “monopolistic practices in the food retail sector,” investigate practices like shrinkflation and allegations of price-fixing or collusion, implement measures to promote fair competition in the food retail industry, explore ways to prevent “excessive price gouging on essential food items,” and make Loblaw and Walmart sign the grocery code of conduct.
The petition now has over 6,000 signatures.
A House of Commons committee has been studying food prices and the grocery code of conduct and has urged the two grocers to sign on.
This survey was conducted between April 5, 2024, among a random selection of 1,507 Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada panellists. The probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
With files from The Canadian Press
