B.C. Election Analysis: NDP, Greens promise to reduce grocery costs

In an effort to address affordability in the B.C. election campaign, the NDP and Green party are proposing plans to reduce the cost of groceries.

The B.C. Conservatives, instead, say that lowering taxes will put more money in people’s pockets to help pay for groceries.

The NDP wants to put a cap on the price mark-up on essentials such as milk, eggs, cheese, butter and poultry. The margin caps would apply to corporate retailers, and Leader David Eby singled out the five major grocery chains in B.C.: Loblaws, Save-On-Foods, Walmart, Costco and Sobeys (which operates Safeway).

The B.C. Greens’ platform includes the creation of government-owned and -managed grocery stores, starting with 20 stores and an investment of $100 million. The idea would be to source local products and sell a basket of core goods 30 per cent below market prices.

But do these ideas have any merit, and can they be done?

Yes, they can be done, but are not a cure-all.

Grocery price-control programs are carried out in a number of countries. Hungary has been enforcing price caps on staples since 2022, and in 2025, implemented a retail profit cap of 10 per cent on more than 30 essential foods. Romania, Croatia and the Philippines have also introduced some form of price cap.

These programs have been implemented through legislation, or emergency or executive government orders.

France also had a program, but did not use legislation. Instead, it negotiated an agreement with major supermarket chains to slash and freeze prices on everyday grocery items in 2023.

But reducing the price mark-up on essentials such as milk, eggs, cheese, butter and poultry may have little effect on reducing prices, or a shopper’s overall grocery bill.

Chris Bodnar, an assistant professor of agriculture at the University of the Fraser Valley, notes that in many stores products such as milk are sold as loss leaders, where profit margins are not high or may in fact be negative. Such pricing is set to attract customers into the store to buy other items.

“It gets people’s attention, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” Bodnar said about the idea of price caps.

Studies have shown that the benefits of these types of programs can be fleeting.

A Harvard business school study found that while there can be a small, temporary relief on capped grocery items, major grocery stores simply raise prices on uncontrolled products. The International Monetary Fund, a United Nations agency, advises against broad grocery price controls, because they send the wrong signals and can disrupt supply. The agency instead recommends measures such as direct cash transfers to help low-income earners.

Bodnar sat on the premier’s task force on agriculture and the food economy, which delivered recommendations in November 2025.

He noted that capping the margins on a few goods misses everything that has gone into making groceries more expensive, including climate change, global conflicts that increase the cost of fertilizer and fuel, and the need for adequate land and water in B.C. to bolster production.

There are also examples of government-owned or subsidized grocery stores.

Mexico operates a network of thousands of subsidized grocery stores that sell staples such as corn, beans and milk below market prices.

Tammara Soma, an associate professor at the school of resource and environmental management at Simon Fraser University, noted another example of government-run grocery stores is the U.S. military commissaries.

About 240 supermarkets are run on military installations worldwide, where shoppers save an average of 25 per cent compared to commercial grocery chains.

Soma views the idea of government-run grocery stores as a way to diversify choice, giving consumers and farmers options. She noted that there are cases where farmers cannot sell all of their products, for example, for reasons of appearance, where a product is slightly different looking, or too long or short, so the five main grocers in B.C. will not purchase them.

“This is a great way to actually have a win-win for consumers and the farmers too,” said Soma.

Government-run stores come with an ongoing cost. For example, the U.S. spends about $1.5 billion a year subsidizing its military commissaries.

Bodnar says that needs to be taken into consideration, given that grocery retail margins are slim. How much of a discount will there be on what basket of goods, and how much will that cost.

“With our (government) deficits, how are you going to pay for that?” he asks.

The NDP said their cap on margins on dairy, eggs and poultry could save a family of four up to $700 annually.

“Families are being squeezed every time they go to the store because corporate retailers are using inflation as a cover to jack up prices on essential goods,” Eby has said.

The B.C. Greens haven’t calculated an estimate for grocery savings from their government-owned stores proposal.

The Conservatives have criticized both plans and have said that a better approach is to remove regulatory roadblocks for B.C. farmers and local food hubs, and to put money back into people’s pockets. Leader Lorne Doerkson’s Conservatives have promised to cut provincial income tax by raising B.C.’s basic personal exemption to the most generous level in Canada.

The Conservatives said that amounts to $1,000 a year for working British Columbians and $2,000 for a typical couple, or $167 more a month for gas and groceries.

The NDP said the main people who would benefit from such tax cuts are the wealthiest, as existing tax credits mean that individuals earning up to $25,000 already pay little or no provincial taxes.