As food prices continue to rise and Canadians raise concerns about practices at large retailers, some shoppers may be wondering if there’s an alternative to Big Grocery.
The cost of food has skyrocketed in the last few years, with Statistics Canada reporting that as of July 2025, Canadians were paying 27.1 per cent more than they were in July 2020.
Meanwhile, Canada’s top three grocers continue to make profits — $3.6 billion in 2022 on more than $100 billion in sales.
In many parts of the country, alternatives are scarce, and the big players dominate the market. Just five companies control 76 per cent of the Canadian grocery market share: Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Costco and Walmart.
Consumer concerns go beyond price tags, with questions raised about labelling, weighing practices, price discrimination, anti-competitive conduct and security at some of the country’s biggest chains.
But is another world possible? Some say yes.
There are already examples in Canada of other food retailing models, including co-ops, non-profits, sliding-scale stores and farmers’ markets. In the U.S., New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has even mused about opening city-owned grocery stores to provide cheaper options to those living in food deserts.
It seems there are a fair few newer Co-op grocery stores that have been constructed in various places in Saskatchewan in the past decade. Co-op seems fairly successful in more rural locations and they’re often the only store in many small towns. Being diversified in hardware/building materials, fuel, ag, and grocery probably helps too.
As long as a nationalized grocery chain also has the underlying distribution network, it should be able to be successful.
When I was a kid growing up in Regina (60’s-70’s) there was a Co-op dept store we always shopped at. It sold groceries, housewares, clothing … like everything that a WalMart superstore does, but the profits were shared.
There’s one in Aldergrove BC that is like that, been around forever. Also has a co op feed store for farmers/ranchers, though I’m sure it’s in decline as those fields are being sold and or converted and there’s less families who work their land than when in the data before my grandparents retired