Representatives of Canada’s biggest retail chains and food brands have been in formal talks since last summer, trying to write new rules that would stamp out power imbalances and abusive tactics in Canada’s food supply chain. The negotiations have blown past two government-imposed deadlines, and now, the negotiators say they’re at odds on some key areas, including which products and companies should be subject to the rules.
But government intervention would be complicated and time-consuming. The federal government has already decided that regulating the grocery industry is outside its jurisdiction, leaving it up to the provinces and territories to create their own set of rules. Industry advocates are afraid that scenario would end in disaster, forcing global food companies and national retail chains to wade through a mess of different provincial regulations.
Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said she’s confident the industry can still reach an agreement on a code of conduct by November. Bibeau and her counterparts have been pushing for change in the grocery industry since 2020, when tensions between grocers and their suppliers intensified during the first waves of the pandemic.