Tom Now more than ever before, Canadians are supporting their country by choosing to buy products made in Canada to help keep money in Canada. This is especially true with food products at the grocery store. In this guide we’ll help you understand how to read food product labels to support the Buy Canadian movement that’s sweeping the nation!
Never before have I witnessed Canadians band together in solidarity to support a cause like what’s going on with the Buy Canadian movement right now. With the looming threats of tariffs, it’s a beautiful thing to see Canadians so united in a single cause. In this guide we’ll help you better understand how to read food product labels.
Often times you’ll pick up an item at the grocery store and it won’t immediately be clear where the product was made. Sometimes you’ll find vague keywords on the label, the use of a maple leaf, or other things to hint that the product has ties to Canada.
The two main things you want to look for on food product labels are Made in Canada, and Product of Canada. Here are the definitions of both from the Government of Canada website:
Made in Canada:
- the last substantial transformation of the good occurred in Canada;
- at least 51% of the total direct costs of producing or manufacturing the good have been incurred in Canada
- the “Made in Canada” representation is accompanied by an appropriate qualifying statement, such as “Made in Canada with imported parts” or “Made in Canada with domestic and imported parts”.
- This could also include more specific information such as “Made in Canada with 60% Canadian content and 40% imported content”.
Product of Canada:
- the last substantial transformation of the good occurred in Canada
- all or virtually all (at least 98%) of the total direct costs of producing or manufacturing the good have been incurred in Canada.
Product of Canada is best with 98% or more of the product being in Canada. Made in Canada is also very good with 51% or more of the product being in Canada. Look for one of these on your food product labels to know you’re helping support Canadian businesses.
Here’s an example of a grocery store item featuring a Product of Canada label:
Here’s an example of a grocery store items featuring a Made in Canada label:
There are now also additional tools that can help you identify Canadian made products at the grocery store.
If you have a smartphone, there are a few new apps available that were inspired by the popularity of the Buy Canadian movement. These apps help identify Canadian products by allowing you to scan product barcodes and showing you whether the item is Canadian or not. Some will even suggest Canadian comparable products if the scanned item is not.
Here are our top smartphone app picks to help you identify Canadian products:
- Shop Canadian (iOS / Android)
- Buy Beaver (iOS / Android coming soon)
- Maple Scan (iOS / Android coming soon)
While these apps do help, they’re not without their faults as they don’t always identify Canadian products accurately. Overall they’re still very useful tools when you’re out at the grocery store.
With all the information and tools we have at hand now, buying products made in the great white north is easier than ever before. We at Food Blog Canada are strong supporters of the Buy Canadian movement and will continue to feature more Canadian made products, and share more information to help Canadians discover products made in our beautiful country.
If you have or know of a Canadian made food product that you’d like featured on Food Blog Canada, please reach out to us via our social media accounts as we’d love to work with you! 🇨🇦
