Stanford for Agriculture Committee on Food Prices and Profits

The Centre for Future Work’s Director, Jim Stanford, appeared as an invited expert witness before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food on February 13, as part of the committee’s inquiry into food price inflation. Here is the formal submission Dr. Stanford tabled along with his testimony. The evidence was based on analysis of Statistics Canada industry-wide data on revenues and profits in the broad food retail sector. The data confirms that aggregate profits have doubled since pre-pandemic norms, profit margins (relative to total revenues) have increased by about three-quarters, and that the real quantity of groceries purchased by Canadians has been shrinking in the face of higher prices (and is now below pre-pandemic levels).

Please read the full report, Statistics Canada Aggregate Data on Food Retail and Food Processing Profits.