Canadians might be seeing their grocery bills inch higher with food suppliers warning grocers they will be imposing a fuel surcharge on their deliveries to grocery stores.
Global News has obtained notices sent by three of Canada’s largest food suppliers to their grocery clients — first reported on by the Globe and Mail and CBC News — informing them of the surcharges.
Maple Leaf Foods sent a letter to clients on March 31, informing them that they will start charging a fuel surcharge starting April 6.
Citing “developments in the Middle East” and “a sharp increase in crude oil prices, resulting in a rapid and significant escalation in fuel costs,” the company said it would add a temporary fuel surcharge of $0.11 per kg to all prepared meats and fresh poultry shipments.
“This is not a permanent price increase, but rather a temporary adjustment tied directly to fuel cost movements,” the company said in its letter.
“We are not using this mechanism to recover other inflationary pressures such as raw materials, packaging, or ingredients,” it added.
Tree of Life, in a letter dated March 23, said they would add a fuel surcharge of $10 per shipment starting April 22.
The company said higher fuel prices “have resulted in a sustained increase in diesel fuel costs, directly impacting our logistics and distribution operations.”
Tree of Life is the Canadian subsidiary of the U.S.-based food supplier KeHE Distributors, which supplies retailers and grocers across the continent.
However, the company said it would remove the surcharge if diesel costs returned to a rolling three-month average of $1.20 per litre or lower.
According to GasBuddy, the average diesel price in Canada was $1.78 per litre on Wednesday.
Some food suppliers are also increasing their minimum order requirements.
Ontario-based meat supplier Brandt Meats told clients they will be increasing their minimum order requirement to $1,000 for all deliveries starting May 4, according to one of the letters obtained by Global News.
“Rising fuel and labour costs have significantly increased transportation expenses across our industry. Until now, Brandt Meats has absorbed these additional costs in order to minimize the impact on our customers. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to fully offset these increases and must adjust our delivery requirements,” the company said.
What the grocers say
Sobeys has received fuel surcharge requests from grocers and said they will refuse to pay it, according to an emailed statement.
“We have received a few requests from suppliers to date, which we have declined,” a Sobeys spokesperson said.
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“Similar to our approach to tariffs at this time last year, we believe the fuel market is too unpredictable to take any decisions that could adversely impact the value we provide to our customers,” they added.
Loblaw said they are “in regular dialogue with our suppliers and continue to review cost increase submissions,” including on any fuel surcharges.
The company said in a statement that they will “push back on unjustified cost increases, including on fuel surcharges where not justified,” but did not say in what situations they consider cost increases justified.
Metro said it “carefully reviews and negotiates supplier requests to ensure they are justified and to limit the impact on our customers, while continuing to offer competitive prices,” without adding any further detail on what would make those requests justified.
Smaller and independent grocers, however, are worried that they will not have the option of pushing back against any cost increases.
“It’s disconcerting for us to hear that these surcharges and the impact of rising fuel prices isn’t going to be shared equally with all retail sectors. A smaller independent grocer certainly does not have the leverage of some of the big chains,” said Gary Sands, senior vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers.
Northern and rural communities, as well as urban food deserts, will be most significantly impacted by food price increases, which will be passed on to consumers, Sands said.
“In retail grocery, you have very narrow margins. Independents are, in a good year, operating on about a two per cent overall margin. If you’re getting fuel surcharges … and trucking costs are going up by 40 to 50 per cent, there’s just no way that you can avoid passing that on to your customers,” he added.
Is it legal?
Adding fuel surcharges to the cost of deliveries is “perfectly legal,” said University of Guelph food economist Mike von Massow, with some suppliers even putting it into contracts with their clients.
“Even if it is not part of the contract, freight charges are going up and they are passing them along. It is actually better if they do temporary surcharges instead of permanent price increases,” he added.
In Canada, companies are generally free to set the price level at which they sell their products, the Competition Bureau said, so long as those prices do not amount to price gouging.
“Only the provinces and territories have rules related to price gouging in Canada,” the bureau said in a statement.
The Competition Bureau enforces the Competition Act, which includes provisions against “illegal practices such as price-fixing, competitor collaborations, misleading advertising, and abuse of dominant position.”
The bureau did not say whether this is being looked into, since it is required by law to conduct its work independently.
“The Bureau must conduct a thorough and complete examination of the facts of any matter before reaching a conclusion as to whether the Competition Act has been contravened,” it added.
The fuel surcharge is “no surprise,” said Conservative MP Sandra Cobena.
“It doesn’t take a genius to realize that that ultimately erases any savings that the suspension of the excise tax that the prime minister announced yesterday would have provided Canadians,” Cobena said.
“We are proposing that all federal taxes are removed for the remainder of the year. If we are able to approve that plan, then there will actually be a relief for Canadians,” she added.
The fuel surcharges will stretch Canadians thin as they struggle to afford groceries, the federal NDP said.
“Now food suppliers are threatening to charge grocery retailers fuel surcharges, which will be downloaded onto consumers. Small businesses are forced to raise their prices or eat into their profits while big oil corporations continue to rake in billions in excess profits,” NDP MP and the party’s critic for agriculture and small business Gord Johns.
You and I both know there is no such thing as temporary increases in food prices. They’re here to stay.
You can thank terrorist Israel and the US Moron-in-Chief for the increase!
Making billions in profits, but please add on more ….Morons
Arrest the grocers, nationalize the grocery stores
A vast oil rich nation relying on imports in times of global crises. You wonder why so many in Alberta want to separate. Taxation without representation. Blatant theft via taxes. No wonder no one wants to stay in Canada, it’s simply not worth it.
went food shopping today again prices way way up save on foods no u dont save
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Any guess the Liberals will blame climate change – what a corrupt, inept fools we continue to have in charge. Just once i wish they would admit ‘our fiscal policies over the past decade have failed” But of course he continues to gaslight Canadians saying everything is rosy, and to say the outlandish statement “things have never been more affordable” and the brainwashed muppets just smile and wave. How’s that saving of .10 cents a litre work out for ya?
“Canada’s food suppliers are adding fuel surcharges they say are ‘temporary”
It’s doubtful that they will reduce or eliminate any ‘fuel surcharge’.
Ties in with: Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden introduced Canada’s first federal personal income tax via the Income War Tax Act as a “temporary” measure to finance World War I.
Carney can give $70 Billion for a fast train to Quebec but can’t give farmers and truckers relief so Canadian families can afford to feed themselves without having to make a choice between food and other things. Carney must remove the industrial carbon tax to help Canadians. But his priorities are elsewhere obviously.
If we think it is bad now just wait until Carney signs us up for the EU and all their price gauging and natural resource theft and their terrible court decision that will overrule our courts. It is a nightmare and Carney so very much wants Canada to join. A disaster in the making !!!
Carney fooled the public by “removing” the consumer carbon tax knowing that the industrial carbon tax would remain and be increased by his government. He is nothing more than a snake oil salesman.
To Carney and the Liberal government … REMOVE THE INDUSTRIAL CARBON TAX !!!! You and your terrible economic policies are killing our country and driving prices up for Canadian families.
So much for Carney and this Liberal tax relief the companies are now putting on a surcharge and if anyone thinks it’s temporary then they are living in a dream world. Carney says to judge him on food prices well he has failed miserably food prices keep going up.
Didn’t Carney say something about judging him on our grocery prices ?
Oh,wait a minute, he is a Liberal.
Grocers, food suppliers? No. Nabobs and cheats. Feral assh*les who are allowed to pray on people at will cause the Lib gov does the same. Thats ok, maybe we start burning stores and boycotting chains? Maybe we the people start making things hot and ugly? Is that the only voice you are going to leave us? Your profit margin is that important that you nabobs would risk pushing people into civil unrest?
Kinda like how income tax was to be temporary?
They will not remove the surchages they will just sink it into the shelf price and a new profit for them. When ever did these shareholder/crooks ever give back they just take. Never have they returned any increases. The last surcharge, covid increases when they removed plastic bags, bread scam, meat weight.They are stealing from their customers. Not that it is right , however maybe that is why so many of their customers are stealing from them.
I just watched the Global report on Canada food suppliers adding fuel charges. I noticed nothing was mentioned about the Carney carbon tax on fuel. Not surprising.
The high oil and gasoline prices are a scam, because there are 300 billion barrels in the Alberta tar sands regions. Canada does not import oil from Iron. Switch to EVs.
You DO mean illegally monopolized grocer mafia right???
We possess NOTHING BUT a monopolized economic model and it’s abhorrent!
Food suppliers!? Don’t you mean Illegally monopolized grocer mafia??
They are parasites, and do nothing to benefit ANYONE but themselves….this is so far removed from the nationalist agenda maintained by the incompetent federal liberals ….to buy Canadian is to submit to this illegally operated nation of monopolized economic activity…every day I am less able to support myself ..while our 78 billionaires THRIVE.
Now they claim to have a majority??
NO CONFIDENCE
The carbon tax hasn’t changed the planet at all. So axe the tax! It’s not doing a thing. Just a scam
Welcome to the 21st Century Liberals. Or should we say Globalists. They care nothing for Canadian citizens.
There was a time in journalism when a “journalist” would ask politicians questions on behalf of general public. But now journalists have become mouth pieces of politicians and they tell us what politicians wants us to know. Millions of $$s to the main stream media is actually a bribe to peddle propaganda to the public. Its not journalism, its mouthpiece of propaganda machine in the capital. True journalism is gone, welcome to Chinada folks. How do these people sleep at night?
What a joke. As if we arent struggling enought.
They said that food prices would go down after COVID also.. but nope, food prices are at an all time high still!!
Don’t expect food prices to go down after this change either!!
When is Carney going to step up and help Canadians ? This is just more price gouging gas was $2.41 in September 2022 and everything increased in price because of the cost of gas. Then in the April 2025 gas dropped to $1.35 did prices drop ? Now its at $2.10 That’s still 31 cent’s a litre less than in 2022 and yet were told a fuel surcharge will now be added .
That’s Gouging and Global if you had good journalists this is what would be added to this article with a little research.
Nothing is temporary
The fact you guys actually pay for every item at the grocery stores is hilarious!!!
I just take what I want , remove the security tags and pay for the cheap stuff.
They’ll lie and say its temporary but its really permanent and wont be removed. So just take what you cant afford.
The stores have everything insured and stores have budgeted for theft
Welcome to the beginning of the end, care of the Lieberals. Imagine how little we eill have left by the time the next election rolls around……
So the primary producers, farmers, and ranchers can all add fuel surcharges too then?
I mean does loblaws spend more on fuel to move a loaf of bread than the farmer does to grow the wheat? Nah didnt think so.
Cucknadians will bend over and it of course. Its the Canadian way
Hmm, has global looked into or done in depth reporting on the industrial carbon tax impact on consumers? Maybe start there?
Notice nothing about that….
Isn’t this another reason why there are protests in Ireland over their government doing the same thing as the progressive liberals?
Speaking of, not any articles on it hey global news? Showing the people still good the power and the government works for the people, not the other way around
besides the brain dead, who didn’t see this coming, industrial carbon tax will trickle down to the consumer. but hey lets keep the liberals in power. good job.
Time to go get a moose and let the stores go belly up
Lmao we had what, 2 days of reduces gas prices and they have already found a new hidden tax to add to get their money back
Uday Rana you don’t need quotes around the word temporary in the story headline. We’re not f *ucking morons like Global journalists.
Canada, 4h largest supply of oil/gas in the world and a sparsity of pipelines – None to east coast tidewater and the Maritime provinces. All thanks to the Liberals and their kow-towing to Quebec voters and Carney’s green energy scheme.
Why ADD FUEL SURGES & the profit goes to Salary increases starting from the Management to the employees?
Excuses, once it’s added, all people will forget & say leave it As is😳
Even more reason for Carney to remove the industrial carbon tax.