Rapport ESG 2023
Tariffs
The U.S. has placed tariffs on all Canadian imports, and in response, Canada has introduced counter-tariffs on many U.S. goods. The measures are inflationary, essentially a tax on consumers, and would lead to higher prices on groceries. The Canadian government has taken this step to protect jobs and industries at home, but it does mean higher costs on items coming from the U.S. We’re working hard to keep prices as low as possible – including working closely with the government to try to exempt key items important for our customers – but you may notice some increases on affected products. We are also responding to the need and interest among many Canadians to support brands and products from here at home. We remain committed to offering you the best value and selection during this time. Read more about what we’re doing to help support Canadians.
Supporting Canada
Loblaw has always supported Canadian businesses, brands and products. We place a high priority on local and regional products. We are doubling down on that long-standing commitment. As one of the largest purchasers of Canadian products, we are working to secure as much food as possible that is grown or made/prepared in Canada, and in fact have onboarded about 30 new Canadian suppliers since the beginning of the year
If you’re a Canadian grower or manufacturer, please check out our Small Supplier program here.
How to shop Canadian
We know many customers are looking to more easily find their favourite Canadian products in our stores. To help, we’ve added the maple leaf symbol at shelf with certain products throughout the store and online. In all cases, this symbol means the product was "Prepared in Canada" with domestic and/or imported ingredients. Some of these products may have "Product of Canada" or "Made in Canada" claims on their packaging, which means even more aspects of those products come from Canada.
We’re also featuring Canadian items in our promotions and flyers, and sharing Canadian stories in social media – check out our store owners, colleagues and product spotlights.
Through PC Optimum, we’re highlighting “Prepared in Canada” products, offering more point on our own Canadian products (PC, no name and Farmer’s Market) and recently introduced a feature that allows customers to ‘swap’ their chosen product for a Canadian alternative, where available.
Products impacted by tariffs
For a full list of the products from the U.S. that the Canadian government has imposed a 25% counter tariff on, please click here(Il s'ouvre dans un nouvel onglet).
Loblaw is working with our suppliers to understand the impact on their products. Where we purchase directly from the U.S., we have been working to source alternatives from other countries, where possible. Our goal is to provide comparable alternative to U.S. products, in both quality and price.
How tariffs will be applied
Canadians should not expect to see the impact of tariffs show up on the day they are announced. Instead, we will sell through existing products on the shelf and in our inventory at the current price. Loblaw will also be working with our suppliers to mitigate cost increases caused by tariffs, including finding alternative sources of supply wherever possible that are not impacted by tariffs.
For fresh products, if Canada’s counter tariffs include those products, the impact may be apparent within a week or two. For centre of store, we expect related increases proposed by suppliers to show up on shelf in about six weeks.
Advocating for Canadians
We continue to advocate for customers, including talking to the government and many participants in our supply chain to ensure the potential consequences of this situation are understood. We have asked the Canadian government to exempt from counter-tariffs the most essential products on our shelves that come from the US and for which customers have limited alternatives.
