Food businesses face penalties for mislabelling products as Canadian

Food businesses face penalties for mislabelling products as Canadian

Canadians have been clear that they want to support Canadian businesses and buy Canadian products. Consumers deserve origin labels they can trust so they can make informed choices. Accurate origin labelling creates a fair marketplace that benefits both consumers and businesses.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is protecting consumers from misleading food labels and advertisements. Since April 1, 2025, the Agency has issued $47,000 in financial penalties to businesses for inaccurate or misleading country of origin claims:

Food businesses are responsible for ensuring that all food products they sell, whether made in Canada or imported, meet Canada’s legislative requirements.

The CFIA takes labelling issues seriously and is directly addressing the growing concern with Canadian food businesses over inaccurate and misleading origin claims. In addition to responding to complaints, we conduct inspections to verify origin claims on labels and advertisements, including in-store signage. This includes CFIA inspectors:

The CFIA selects appropriate compliance and enforcement actions based on a range of considerations including, the degree of risk, the harm caused by the non-compliance, the compliance history of the regulated party, whether there is negligence or intent to violate federal requirements, and responsiveness to resolving the issue.