How to make sense of Canadian labels #CanadaFinance

TORONTO — Shoppers have been caught up in the buy Canadian fervour since U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Sunday applying 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods starting Tuesday.

While the U.S. leader granted a 30-day reprieve on Monday evening, shoppers are still committed to shopping for homegrown products and are scouring labels, manufacturer websites and factory addresses.

They’ve found plenty of items marked “product of Canada” or “made in Canada,” but what do these terms really mean? And can you really count on a maple leaf sticker on a package to prove something is Canadian?

Product of Canada

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s website says a “product of Canada” label denotes that all, or nearly all, of the food, processing and labour used to make the product is Canadian.

Products with this label were grown or raised by Canadian farmers and prepared and packaged in Canada, but can contain a small amount of imported food, such as spices, additives, vitamins, and flavourings.

For non-food products, the Competition Bureau says the label can only be used on items when at least 98 per cent of the costs of producing or manufacturing the good have been incurred in Canada.

Made in Canada

The Made in Canada label can be applied to items when “the last substantial transformation of the product occurred in Canada.”

For example, the CFIA says the processing of cheese, dough, sauce and other ingredients to create a pizza would be considered a substantial transformation.

For non-food products to use the label, the Competition Bureau says the last substantial transformation of the good must have occurred in Canada and at least 51 per cent of production or manufacturing costs must have been in the country.

The bureau and CFIA say companies that use the made in Canada label must also say whether the product is made in Canada from imported components or ingredients or a combination of imported and domestic parts or ingredients.

Canadian

The CFIA treats the word Canadian the same as it does “product of Canada,” meaning all or virtually all major ingredients, processing and labour used to make the food product must be Canadian.

It says if you see “Canadian” on a container of frozen lasagna, it would mean that the food meets the “Product of Canada” criteria.

The same is true for ingredients, so if “Canadian cheddar cheese” is marked on a package of cheddar cheese sauce, all or virtually all major ingredients, processing and labour used to make the cheddar cheese in the sauce must be Canadian.

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