Shopping Canadian
Shopping Canadian is on many people’s minds these days. However, food labels can be confusing and hard to understand which products are domestic (Canadian) or imported from other countries. There are rules that food producers need to follow when labeling their products.
For a product to be labeled “Product of Canada”, over 98% of the major ingredients need to be from Canada, with the labour and processing also taking place in Canada. Some “Product of Canada” vegetables and fruits that you may be able to find in your local grocery store include: tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, spaghetti squash, onions, apples, cabbages, and potatoes. Be sure to double check that they say “Product of Canada”.
For a product to be labeled as “Canadian” the same rules apply as the “Product of Canada” label. Some food products that may use this “Canadian” label include: Peak of the Market produce, chicken, beef, honey, flour, milk, eggs, and grains like barley.
Some products are labeled as “Made in Canada”, and this label can be used if the last major processing step took place in Canada. It must also state where the ingredients came from. For example, “Made in Canada with domestic and imported ingredients” means that the food product had its last major processing step (for example: baking) in Canada with some Canadian ingredients and some ingredients from other countries. Some examples you may find in your local grocery store include certain brands of: canned beans or legumes, salad dressing, frozen foods, tomato paste, cheeses, cookies, etc.
Labels like “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” are optional, so some food products may be all Canadian but may not include these labels. If a food product does not include one of those labels, they may just have a Canadian address on the label. The tricky thing is that some products have Canadian addresses on the label but may also say in another spot “product of …” another country. They may also say “Imported for/Imported by” next to the Canadian address. This means the Canadian company brought this food product to Canada to sell in Canada. There are many Canadian foods with no extra label besides the Canadian address, some examples include: Dempster’s bread products, Danone yogurt, Armstrong and Cracker Barrel cheeses, Becel and Imperial margarine, and many more.
There are front-of-package labels that many products use that indicate the ingredients were grown or raised in Canada and/or processed in Canada. Here are some examples of these labels:

Foods that were made outside of Canada are considered imported and have to be labeled according to the country where it came from. Some ways to tell if a food product is imported is if it says “Imported for/Imported by” next to a Canadian address, the address provided is an address outside of Canada, or it is labeled as “Product of…” another country.
Many of Canada’s vegetables and fruits are imported from other countries. Some examples include: avocadoes, lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits, grapes, bell peppers, garlic, pineapple, kiwis, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, pears, asparagus, lettuce, carrots, and snap peas. During the summer months more local vegetables and fruits may be available than in the winter.
Another label that can be confusing is the “…in Canada” label. This means that a step of the process was done in Canada. This may mean that the product itself, its ingredients, or other processing steps may or may not be from or done in Canada. Some examples of this label include: Wow Butter “processed in Canada”, Kraft salad dressing “prepared in Canada”, Premium Plus crackers “baked in Canada”, Green Giant frozen peas “grown and packaged in Canada”.
Some grocery stores have tried to help people find Canadian foods on the shelf by including extra labels. For example, Co-op and No Frills have taken to including a maple leaf on the price tag of Canadian food products. Giant Tiger has introduced some “Product of Canada” signs as well as “Made in Canada with domestic and imported ingredients” signs.

Check out these recipes that include Canadian foods:
Chicken and bean quesadillas – Canada’s Food Guide
Turkey and lentil shepherd’s pie – Canada’s Food Guide
Moose stew – Canada’s Food Guide
Three Sisters soup (corn, bean and squash) – Canada’s Food Guide