This Ontario man saw U.S.-made soup on shelf with maple leaf label — one reason buying Canadian can be tricky

Dalson Chen · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 11:34 AM EST | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

The trade war triggered by President Donald Trump's tariffs has been inspiring patriotic stances among customers astatine Canadian market stores, but buying only domestic products isn't arsenic elemental arsenic looking for a maple leaf.

Jim Kreski of Windsor, Ont., learned that during a caller sojourn to a FreshCo location.

"I happened to prime up a tin of soup and I saw that adjacent though they had reddish maple leaves connected everything, the merchandise was really made successful the U.S.A.," Kreski told CBC Windsor. "That was stated close connected the can."

FreshCo is among the supermarket chains with a caller argumentation of highlighting Canadian goods, including adding maple leafage logos to definite support labels.

But Kreski noticed the symbols associated with Canada were besides connected shelves stocked with items that were really American products, such arsenic Campbell's soup and Betty Crocker barroom mixes.

Kreski said that aft helium discovered the apparent mislabelling successful aggregate aisles, helium asked a unit subordinate astir it.

"She said that if it was a Canadian institution that had purchased the goods ... they enactment the maple leaves."

The maple leaf is also put connected products "prepared successful Canada" from imported goods.

"I understood what she was saying, but I deliberation it's deceptive," Kreski lamented. "To me, it's not right."

The bargain Canadian question heightened this week aft Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs connected Canadian goods entering the U.S. would proceed. On Thursday, Trump said they'll beryllium enactment connected clasp for a month.

In the lawsuit of FreshCo, the institution has been incorporating "Buy Canadian" into its advertising. A promotional email reminds the nationalist that FreshCo — a subsidiary of Sobeys — is "a proudly Canadian company."

Other promotional transcript encourages customers to, "Spot and store Canadian products in-store and successful our flyer — Look for the maple leafage connected shelf."

When contacted astir Kreski's concerns, a spokesperson for Sobeys said the parent conglomerate — Empire Company Limited — "has responded rapidly to Canadians' tendency to bargain Canadian."

According to the spokesperson, the corp is "committed to wide and close labelling," and products are continually reviewed to guarantee they conscionable CFIA [Canadian Food Inspection Agency] definitions for Canadian products.

"While labelling is simply a manual process and occasional discrepancies whitethorn occur, we person steps successful spot to place and close them promptly," Sobeys stated.

Mike von Massow, a prof with the Ontario Agricultural College astatine the University of Guelph and an adept connected nutrient economics, feels it shouldn't beryllium a astonishment that choosing Canadian goods tin beryllium complicated.

"It's sometimes hard to specify what Canadian is," von Massow explained. "Each of america has to benignant of make our ain enactment arsenic to what is acceptable."

For example, oranges can't beryllium grown successful Canada — but determination are Canadian companies that marque products retired of imported orangish foodstuff concentrate. "Is that a Canadian product?" von Massow asked.

On the different hand, Canada produces plentifulness of pigs — but the processing of those pigs into consumable pork products is typically done successful the U.S.

"We person a deficiency of processing capableness in Eastern Canada," von Massow said. "So determination are these nuances ... successful the mediate abstraction of absolutes."

Making the contented adjacent murkier is the information U.S. retailers — such arsenic Walmart and Costco — that run successful Canada besides sell Canadian-made products.

Von Massow is besides alert of what helium describes arsenic "Canada-washing" — nutrient retailers utilizing patriotism arsenic a selling strategy portion being little than forthcoming astir the origins of items for sale.

It tin each marque "buying Canadian" arsenic tricky arsenic politics.

"Ask questions astatine the market store," von Massow advised. "Check the labels. Look astatine the regulatory websites to spot what the antithetic wording means, and pass yourself.

"It's much work. But if it's important to you, you tin fig it out."

Von Massow has been trying to practise what helium preaches: He has stopped buying Cheerios, his favourite cereal, because helium learned General Mills, a U.S. company, lone manufactures them successful the U.S.

Carol Kreski, Jim's wife, said she's found online assistance with Canada-conscious buying decisions. She joined the Facebook group "Made successful Canada — Canadian Products."

"When I shared it astatine the time, determination were 74,000 members connected this page. I forwarded it to each my friends and family," Carol recalled. "As of today, it's astatine 1.2 cardinal people, each pursuing this leafage of alternatives to U.S. products."

Despite Jim's distrust of FreshCo's support labels, helium said he's not giving up. He'll proceed to effort to marque Canadian choices when shops and debar U.S. imports erstwhile possible.

"One idiosyncratic whitethorn not marque a quality connected buying Canadian, but if 50 per cent of america bash it, it could marque a immense difference," helium reasoned.