{"id":382404,"date":"2026-01-01T23:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T23:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/382404\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T23:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T23:31:15","slug":"canadian-grocery-industrys-new-code-of-conduct-takes-full-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/382404\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian grocery industry\u2019s new code of conduct takes full effect"},"content":{"rendered":"

The voluntary grocery code of conduct<\/a> for grocers, suppliers, wholesalers and primary producers fully rolled out on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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The grocery code intends to promote fair dealings between grocers and their suppliers, including the application of penalties and fees. It was set up in an effort to bring more transparency, fairness and predictability to the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n

The code, governed by the Office of the Grocery Sector Code of Conduct, includes trade rule provisions, a governance model and an adjudication and dispute resolution process.<\/p>\n

As of Jan. 1, the code \u2014 which was being rolled out in stages \u2014 is fully operational, including the dispute resolution mechanism governing how complaints are addressed by the office and consequences for violations of the code.<\/p>\n

Grocers, suppliers and other members will now be able to submit formal complaints. The office of the Canada Grocery Code will also start collecting annual membership dues.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBusiness Matters: Canada\u2019s grocery code of conduct is coming in 2026. Here\u2019s what it means for you\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Starting in 2026, the office will also release an annual report that highlights sector trends, systemic challenges and proposed improvements, according to the Canada Grocery Code website.<\/p>\n

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The industry committee tasked with creating the code was established in response to contentious fees being charged to suppliers by large grocery retailers, an issue that came to a head in 2020.<\/p>\n

Years of high food inflation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic stoked public frustration with the grocery sector and though the code\u2019s purpose is not to lower costs, its adoption nonetheless became a political issue.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWalmart, Costco agree to Grocery Code of Conduct\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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There was hesitation from some of the grocers about signing on, but the federal government warned it could make the code mandatory if all the major players didn\u2019t get on board.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s five largest grocers \u2014 Empire, Loblaw, Metro, Walmart Canada and Costco Canada \u2014 have now formally registered.<\/p>\n

Former Empire CEO Michael Medline was the first major grocery executive to call for a grocery code of conduct to level the playing field for Canadian grocers and suppliers.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCould Canada\u2019s first grocery code of conduct take a bite out of food inflation?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

He had cautioned the code won\u2019t be a silver bullet for solving problems in the industry, but that it could lead to lower prices, shorter supply chains and more choice for Canadians.<\/p>\n

The code is not intended to address retail food prices as it does not regulate pricing, control shelf placement or limit companies\u2019 ability to negotiate commercial terms.<\/p>\n

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While the code is a first for Canada, other countries, notably the U.K. and Australia, have their own grocery codes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The voluntary grocery code of conduct for grocers, suppliers, wholesalers and primary producers fully rolled out on Thursday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1849,113942,162809,43,134,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-382404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-consumer","tag-groceries","tag-grocery-code-of-conduct","tag-headlines","tag-money","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}