With U.S. tariffs now in place and counter-tariffs in effect, shoppers who took that message to heart are scrutinizing labels — and, at the same time, many are asking the question: Is there a premium on patriotism? Marketplace has received dozens of messages in recent weeks from consumers wondering if they’re now paying more for the same products because they’re, to varying degrees, Canadian.

While nine out of 10 products remained the same price — and about two per cent decreased in price — Marketplace found the regular price of hundreds of products have increased since governments put out the call to buy food made in Canada. Some are from Canada’s most iconic brands, including Tim Hortons, St-Hubert, Swiss Chalet and Chapman’s.

“Consumers, when they see that little Canadian flag next to the product, I think that really increases their desire to have that product,” he said. “There’s this big ‘Buy Canadian’ movement and Canadian manufacturers and retailers are poised to take advantage of that. They can charge higher prices.”

  • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
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    7 days ago

    Swiss Chalet has locations in most Canadian provinces, but about 80% are in Ontario and there are currently none in Quebec or British Columbia.

    That’s from Wikipedia. Really confused me. Doing a map search, there are at least 5 Swiss Chalet listed restaurants in Metro Vancouver, and have been for at least 40 years.

    Did they all close down in the last 3 years? The official website doesn’t list BC restaurants….