Buy Canadian? The Real Cost of Grocery Aisle Patriotism

Ongoing tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump were reason enough for Canada to turn a cold shoulder to their southern neighbours. But repeatedly calling Canada the 51st state has driven some Canadians to ice out American goods with a good ol’ fashioned boycott.

“There has never been a more important time to start reducing our reliance on other countries and strengthen our economy,” Jared Rusch, founder of the ‘BuyCanadian’ subreddit, said in an email. “We are proud to be Canadian, and everyone has found a reason to come together and support our country,” added Rusch, who is a 34-year-old Saskatoon resident.

The boycott isn’t just about avoiding U.S. goods, either. Canadians are shunning American brands in favour of local alternatives, including food products and digital services. Some Canadians have also rerouted their tourism dollars, cancelling U.S.-bound flights and accommodations in favour of Canadian destinations.

But will switching to home-grown produce and Canadian-made goods actually save you money at the checkout? The answer is complicated.

Buy local, boost jobs — does it really work?

It’s difficult to parse the economic significance of buying local. Even if Canadians manage to hurt the bottom line of an American business or help keep a Canadian brand afloat, the impact is unlikely to be obvious or immediate.

Still, the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement has gained momentum north of the 49th parallel. Four in five Canadians (78%) say they already, or are likely to, buy more Canadian products in response to the tariffs, while three in five (59%) say they are likely to boycott American-made products, according to a February 2025 survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute. A survey conducted the same month by Interac found that the top motivator for Canadians selecting Canadian-made products was to support the local economy (79%), followed by trust in Canadian quality standards and Canadian patriotism.

It appears that the shift in shopping behaviour has come to the attention of Canadian retailers.

“I believe it’s already proving to make a difference,” said Rusch. “Companies are starting to source more Canadian-made products, and some are making it visible which products are from Canada (using stickers, signs, etc).”

Macroeconomic motivations aside, buying Canadian may have a more direct and discernible effect: one that reveals itself at the checkout.

Shopping Canadian: A taste of sticker shock or smart savings?

The tariff dispute between Canada and the United States remains highly changeable.

» For up-to-date developments on the unfolding tariff dispute, check out our tariffs in Canada story.

Importing businesses often pass tariff costs on to the consumer. As such, Canadians may want to consider how prices of certain food products may increase in the coming weeks and months.

Canadian groceries came in 34% cheaper

We compared 10 common grocery items sold in Canada and the U.S., using similar (though not always identical) products. The result? Buying Canadian meant $25 off our grocery bill.

Here’s a price breakdown of some Canadian products alongside their U.S. counterparts, both with and without tariff cost increases.

_{Food prices were sourced from Voila via its online store in March 2025. U.S. produce was identified via labels supplied by Voila. Additional U.S. food products were determined as belonging to any company founded and headquartered in the United States with minimal Canadian manufacturing. Hypothetical U.S. product prices are reflective of a 25% counter-tariff imposed by the Canadian government on U.S. food products sold in Canada.}

In some circumstances, buying Canadian may be gentler on your wallet than a tariff-inflated American label. That said, not all U.S. products have a homegrown alternative. Take citrus fruits, for example, which Canada simply doesn’t grow. In such circumstances, Canadians will need to decide whether to eat the tariff costs, find an alternative from another country or simply go without.

Farm to label: How to spot authentic Canadian goods

With food producers and grocery stores hopping on the Buy Canadian bandwagon, identifying Canadian food products in the wild has seemingly never been easier — or more confusing. My local Metro, for instance, has begun adding maple leaves to its shelf labels. Food items in Sobey’s online Voila portal sport the same. But what do these red maple leaves actually designate? After all, there’s a difference between a food item manufactured in Canada and produced in Canada. Plus, some consumers have voiced concerns about U.S. products being mislabeled with Canadian iconography.

The tide of maple leaves flooding shelf labels may help you identify some Canadian goods, but reading the food’s packaging will help you dig deeper. Here’s what you need to know about Canadian food labels:

Made in Canada. At least 51% of the item’s production and manufacturing took place in Canada.
Product of Canada. At least 98% of the item’s production and manufacturing took place in Canada.

Beyond these, you may see words like ‘prepared,’ ‘packaged,’ ‘bottled,’ or ‘manufactured’ in Canada. These imply that some steps of the manufacturing process took place in Canada with the help of Canadian labour but that some or all of the product may have been imported from another country.

If Canadian grocery store aisles have become part of the battleground in the tariff war, the choices Canadians make about what to put in their carts stretch beyond patriotism or protest. We get to choose how and where to spend our money, and that economic vote has the potential to ripple through your personal finances and beyond — to local communities, Canadian farms and manufacturing plants. What you put in your shopping cart matters, both for your personal budget and for shaping the marketplace you want to participate in.