A Toronto branch of Loblaw’s Superstore grocery chain was fined $10,000 by Canada’s food regulator for violating “Product of Canada” food labelling. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency posted on social media that the Superstore located in North York violated the Safe Food for Canadians Act related to misleading Product of Canada product displays.

It did not elaborate on what specific product was involved or whether multiple products were involved. CFIA later told news services that it related to maple leaf advertising decals used in the store to promote a foreign product. 

CFIA policy has been to prioritize working with industry participants when there are issues. CFIA policy has also been to not disclose the names of firms involved in administrative monetary penalties. 

The fine was issued in mid-January, but the agency did not announce it until February 17, again using social media rather than any formal news release. 

Canadians became more discerning about food origins a year ago, when the United States began imposing numerous tariffs on Canadian products. This result in a shift in consumer sentiment to preferring Canadian goods, which was followed by a shift in vendor marketing to emphasize Canadian ingredients, Canadian heritage and other techniques to make products appear to be as Canadian as possible. This resulted in the term ‘maple washing’ to describe products claiming to be as Canadian. 

Numerous published reports have identified multiple instances of mislabelled products at Canadian grocers nationwide, but the action against Superstore is the first notable publicized enforcement. 

CFIA restricted “Product of Canada” to identify food that is almost entirely created in Canada, and the term “Made in Canada” to identify when the last significant transformation of a food occurs in-country. 

CFIA representatives said it “does not currently publish the names of individuals or companies who received an AMP,” in response to an email query from the Consumers Council of Canada’s Think Consumers e-publication in late 2024. The most recent CFIA Food Fraud Annual Report included multiple references to enforcement activities, including that it issued 44 penalties, but only named the two firms charged in court.