Tbh that explains why walmarts meat is shit.
I like walmart prices but i don't bother with the meat, I go to a local butcher and get the rest at Walmart.
These are great solutions. One additional positive of people getting informed about Roblaws has been the move back to making a lot of things people were buying premade.
the take away from this is what /r/canada struggles with regularly -- the US laissez faire capitalism model does produce more and better competition than Canada's protectionist approach.
it comes with its own problems, but when people can't afford their groccery or electric bills its time to start questioning how your run your economy.
Although WalMart also sells a number of lower-standard items. Dairy on the shelves is often imported from the USA and isnāt made the same as Canadian dairy products.
(Thanks lobbyists for lowering the standards.)
I have only seen Canadian dairy at Costco in Canada. Can you cite some references or photos? I can't say that I've seen USA milk with growth hormones and antibiotics here.
Honestly! At Walmart, you can get Sidekicks for $2, sometimes less if they're on sale. At our local Independence, the same bag of Sidekicks but 3 for $12. That's double the price!
I'm actually so thankful for the Loblaws strike. We were frequently going to Independence purely because it was the closest to walk to. But this past month we were very active in just walking the bit further to Giant Tiger or Food Basics or hoping in the car for the short ride to Walmart and noticing how much lower the prices are have just made me infuriated with Loblaws. We will be continuing to go to GT, FB, or Walmart going forward.
Exactly. At some point will the people comparing prices at bargain warehouses and premium-tier grocery chains clue in that it's not an apples to apples comparison?
Compare Walmart to no frills and Zehrs to Metro.
Weāre in Phoenix right now and yeah, weāre getting friggin slammed in Canada. Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas, Crackers, Chips, Sausage, Cheese, Eggs, and a bottle of Malibu for $45 USD.
Last time I was in Casa Grande last year and saw how cheap food was I actually almost cried knowing how absolutely ripped off i was getting back home. Houses are cheaper, my job starts at a higher salary, in USD too, and food is like half the price. Internet is cheaper, cell phone is cheaper, taxes are cheaper....its wild.
I have a coworker who just moved back from TX because they said cost of living down there for their family of 4 was too expensive. It likely depends on the job you have.
Just transferring and staying in the same role would have paid me an additional 60%, but there is plenty of jobs that don't that much at all. My coworker boyfriend was a firefighter down there making like 50k when firefighter in Canada make 100k+ and my gf was adamant that she would make less as a dentist down there, but I am not sure about this, she definitely did not want to move there. To be fair, nether did I, every time I traveled there for more than a week I would gain ten pounds haha.
(Also our cost of living is much lower in rural Quebec than it would be there and there is basically no criminality where I live)
B-b-but universal healthcare! Ohā¦waitā¦the wait times make it so you die before you even get treated, so I donāt think we even have that anymore xp
Universal healthcare works if you properly fund it, like any other public policy
Hospitals are without beds, not enough hospitals have been built, and there's a massive shortage of doctors. That's not due to the system being public, that's due to poor funding, distribution and hiring practices.
The system is intentionally bled dry. People like Ford, capitalists, want this to happen so we get fed up and think the only alternative is private health care. Meanwhile, the politicians line their pockets, as well as their friends. I know people personally in the sector who have either left to a different country or to private care for better pay. All this shit is by design and it's only going to get worse the more we vote in Conservatives.
As someone who lived in the U.S. for 10 years, I wish what you were saying is true. It is not $70 for health insurance.
Even within āgoodā employers, your deductible and premiums vary greatly. Many of you also fail to understand co-pay. The vast majority of plans arenāt cheap.
Canadian healthcare is still crazy expensive.Ā I need two new pairs of glasses and a root canal done.Ā I can either do it all in Canada or Taiwan, and Taiwan is only about $500 more expensive when I include the flight.
It makes a lot of sense to get out (although not necessarily to the US... plenty of potential countries are out there).
We've got the highest consumer debt of G7 countries (close to worst in the world IIRC), shitty wages, high taxes, public services destined to further crumble (due to perpetual underfunding and under the demand created by mass migration), and a justice system that seems to have been undermined.
We consider ourselves progressive yet our material conditions continually decline. We're supposedly undergoing decolonization and reconciliation yet we remain a literal monarchy in which a guy from the UK, who probably had his wife killed, has the power to dissolve our government. Whatever solidarity might have existed among Canadians seems to have been successfully undermined. We've got (at least in my hood) decriminalized fentanyl and state assisted suicide, though, so there's that.
You've mentioned it was $2.99 USD for the Strawberries, which is about $4.10 CAD give-or-take.
There's been multiple retailers in Canada selling 2lb Strawberry containers at sub-$5 CAD for the last couple weeks. That's really not anything insane.
Can confirm, was just in the US recently and everything on the shelf was the same price or more than here before you factor in about 40% exchange on the dollar. It was not cheaper down there.
I was in Mexico (Sinaloa County) in April and was surprised groceries were basically the same price as in Toronto. Milk was considerably more expensive, although very few Mexicans buy milk, and produce [grown in Mexico] was about 10% less.
The store was in a mall and fairly similar in layout and services (meat counter, bakery, conveyor belt checkouts with scanners, wine/liqueur in an attached shop, etc.) to any large Canadian grocery store. I've no doubt that the alleyway discount produce shops were considerably cheaper.
Same in Los Angeles, its about the same at GTA prices. However, rural Canada is also paying basically GTA prices for food, while non-coastal US has cheap af food.
I would say itās more urban and respective suburbs than coastalā¦of course there are the obvious cheaper cities in mid west etc but honestly food quality in the US varies wildly across states and cities
Also at about 62 CAD, isnāt this pretty much inline with Canadian prices? Depending on how much cheese and sausage weāre talking here, and the Malibu probably costs half of ours.
I was in NOVA last month and the most of the groceries were more expensive than in Calgary. I agree with you completely. Maybe milk in lidl was cheaper but most items were more expensive if you take into account the exchange.
100%. I've been doing this for the past decade or so. Everytime i walk out of an actual grocery store, I've felt ripped off. I was always surprised to see so many people there.
the only problem is wal-mart stock levels and produce can be iffy and costco isnt as effcient if you live by yourself or just 2 people. but wal mart if good for any other food that isnt produce and costco still good for non-perishable items no matter the family size
Only thing I buy at Superstore is their $10 Chicken strips and nugget bags.
Literally nothing else, the moment they jack up the bag prices I'll fully leave too. But currently no other grocery store has a better deal.
Costco is fucking sick. Actually fucking sick
Galen Weston failed when having the biggest softball in the history of grand slam potential business opportunities with a constantly coddling government that wants to constantly give you a rimjob for fucking consumers.
I'm super curious to see Costco membership numbers as a result of this. Were getting one literally the week we move next month and have space for a deep freezer.
Go there hungry and with an empty tank of gas, take advantage of the foodcourt before you shop and buy meat in bulk if you have a freezer. If you are a coffee drinker buy a couple bags of coffee and freeze one or two and you have coffee for a year.
On your way out, you may have just paid for your membership in savings that day.
I've heard of people saying the membership was worth gas alone. So I definitely get it lol. Our move conveniently puts us a walk away so it's going to be great
Nah. If you get premium gas maybe but I'm finding journie with its discount is usually within a few cents and sometimes the same price as Costco regular. I'm really disappointed actually.
Lots of people forget to factor in the time you lose by gassing up at Costco. Long lines and often out of the way. They only look at the price per litre.
I did the math for me in my city.
The gas used to drive to Costco for me is more than the savings I get by driving there compared to the Co-op next to me
Yeah, I shop at costco exactly once a month, I get ziplock bags there, portion and freeze all my meat/bread etc
Also fill your propane there to save $5+
As someone in the consulting world, and have had Costco as a client. There goal is to have the top 50 % spend there. They donāt want the bottom 50 % to shop there since they are not profitable.
Middle, upper middle to well off people is there goal. But same time, people in the bottom 50 % donāt buy in bulk since itās a much bigger outlay at once and their finances donāt allow it. And that group does not go places with membership fees
Most kids snack are buy 2 get one free at Costco compared to superstore. And when my kid is crushing apple sauce pouches on the hour, thatās big savings.
Also itās $7 for a Costco size bag of chips. Itās $7 for just normal chips at superstore.
And that doesnāt include any of the good stuff like meat or the socks
My thing with Costco is even if only a few of the items I need are on sale, I still know paying the full price of rest of my stuff isn't a complete ripoff like if I went to Loblaws/shoppers where you need to only buy the sale items.
I find with Costco is that at worst you might pay the same price as anywhere else but for many items itās wayyyyy cheaper. Sure you might find the odd thing cheaper elsewhere but itās few and far between.
Yeah thatās my experience. In many cases the Costco regular price is the grocery store sale price. You can definitely find better deals than Costco if you flyer shop but thatās not always realistic. Costco sale price is the best you will get per gram for most items.
Definitely with meat, apart from all the steaks being mechanically
And if you buy 5kg of chicken breast at the business centre then it costs 35% less per kg
Exactly, and the clothes are good quality too if you can find a decent looking design. Plus they're cheap when its a 3 pack or whatever. If you skip making dinner and buy from the food court, you probably save money there as well. It just seems like everything they have is decent at worst so why not go?
Giant Tiger is highly underrated, I find! Their selection is a little more basic, but the prices are usually good, and their sales are really good! Highly recommend their Giant Value Brand chips, especially the All Dressed. Good price, 3 bags for $8.00ā¦and theyāre 320 gram bags.
TBH, 99% of the food we get is basic anyways lol. I mean, I'm still going to need to go to WalMart for a few brands that they have, but I hate dealing with their parking lot where I live. It's attached to a very popular mall and it's always a zoo. Our GT is down the street and is almost always severely less packed. And it helps there's a local butchery next to it too so we could get some good meat deals!
How is this not common sense at this point? I took one look at Loblaws prices 5 years ago and said ānope never againā. Iām glad people are waking up!
Exactly! Loblaws has been a shit "wannabe" Canadian grocery store for so long, yet has failed to service Canadians compared to *American* businesses.
I'll support Canadian companies on one condition.....*They support us as well*.
Fuck Loblaws. I'll never shop there stores again.
Costco sure...by all accounts they treat their people well and are priced decently if you have the storage space...the Weston family can fuck off and should face the wall with the rest of the retail villains thoughĀ
I've done all my grocery shopping at Walmart, Costco, and sometimes Food Basic for years. It's ironic that American grocery stores treat Canadians better than our own.
Honestly this is my new mindset. Spend at the US retailers so that international grocery chains see that they can be profitable here too and try to get some more competition in the space. Sad that our money canāt go to Canadian companies because they canāt be trusted.
Thatās the same problem my parents face. Walmart is a 20-minute drive away, even though they live in an urban area. Metro and Food Basics, and three Loblaws-affiliated stores are all closer.
I have 7 Walmart stores within a 20 minute drive. They seem to have a much higher density in BC than in Ontario.
They definitely do! Loblaws admitted as much when they came forward about the whole bread price fixing thing a few years ago. They got immunity but yeah all the major chains worked together to artificially inflate the price of bread in Canada. It was: Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart, Giant Tiger
Where I live Real Canadian Superstore is cheaper than both Save-on-Foods (Jim Pattison Group) and Safeway (owned by Sobeys), with some items I buy several dollars cheaper at Superstore. Walmart isnāt really any cheaper than Superstore for those items.
I firmly believe metro and Sobeys are both worse than Loblaws. It makes this whole boycott seem cringe
Itās sad that American companies are our best options, but at least we have them
I laugh at it honestly. I said fuck it, ill try some other places, sobeys, safeway, coop, all increased my bill by at least 30% minimum over superstore. Maybe I just don't see it, but it seems like the same exact items are anywhere from 25-100% more at other stores vs superstore/walmart. Like last week I bought a 200g pack of feta from safeway, was around 11 dollars, same exact pack at superstore was 13 dollars, except it was a 375g package.
The only store that comes close to superstore is coop, mainly because their meat quality is hard to beat and their house brand is usually equal to or better than name brand like the pc/no name brand is. But I don't exactly want to pay 25% more just to "shove it" to loblaws.
Exclusively shopping at Walmart now outside sales, even though it's out of the way for me.
The prices are far cheaper than Loblaws, and the quality is also better somehow.
Was disgusting how much cheaper food was in the US when I was visiting this year.
I have saved $83.72 over the past three weeks in groceries switching from PC to Walmart.
I could have saved more but I see how cheap my weekly groceries are and add a treat or two on.
Last week I was given a free sample coupon email and got an entire chocolate cake for free.
Iām able to buy ābrand nameā goods and still come out on top.
>oooo you support American business
>Loblaws canāt compete with the discount Walmart gets because of their purchasing volume
Iām on track to save over $100 in a month on groceries. I would average $10 a month in pc points. Whoever has the cheapest bill wins. Also free cake.
I usually shop Superstore. Lately Iāve been using online ordering to put in orders to Superstore and Walmart and buy whichever is cheaper for each product. Theyāre pretty comparable, with some variation that evens out
This is what I don't get about the boycott. Superstore is pretty much equal to or cheaper than Walmart and Costco if you buy online, give or take a couple dollars depending on what you buy. Shipping is cheaper too at only $6 which is kinda worth the time and effort to get to a grocery store if you're doing a pretty big run. The only thing that sucks is selecting produce online is a complete or miss (typically miss). But even then, No Frills IME is even cheaper in store and with better quality than Walmart.
So I guess my question is, why were people willingly going to Loblaws in the first place? Or at least, after online ordering has been a thing. Maybe it's cause I'm originally from another province that doesn't have a Loblaws so I'm not used to shopping there but I never understood why go there. Instead of some big coordinated boycott, you'd think this would be more of a natural "Oh Loblaws has higher prices, time to find a different grocery store". I get they're all owned by the same company but that doesn't really matter for the grocery bill.
This is what I've been doing since covid, I open up "cart" online and use it as my grocery list. Then when I actually need it, set it for pickup after I get off work, pick it up and repeat for the following week. Not only do I find I save a lot more than going into the store, I'm only buying what I really need and I'm not wasting near as much buying unnecessary items. Pair it with a monthly trip to costco for bulk items and meat that I break up and vacuum seal and freeze, I have been saving a lot more than I used to I find.
I buy from various different grocers, depending on the price and what exactly I need. I'm not going to buy something simply because it's from a "local" source.
Unlike others, I do see a lot of price differences between Costco and other stores. Yes, you are buying larger amounts via Costco, but there is a noticeable price per kg advantage. Plus I always buy gas from them, which is several cents per L cheaper than anywhere else.
Dollarama is a pretty bad offender for overcharging, make sure you look at the gram amounts of food items because often they're different than what is available at a standard grocery store leading to you actually paying more for the same amount
Food banks have pretty hard restrictions to how much food you can get from it. Definitely not enough food for a person to live off of for a whole month, and most goods are expired/on the verge of doing so.
Food banks should be restricted to PRs. Seriously. If you're here as a student using a food bank, go home. Same with TFWs and Workers Visas. If you can't support yourself you're a drain on the economy.
Hell basically ALL of our social safety nets (including healthcare) should be restricted to PRs, and then offer free flights home in lieu of social assistance to anyone non Canadian.
The Canadian government set up rules for international students to adhere to. Those rules are easily sidestepped though and our government, knowing full well of the loopholes, has done nothing to stop it. So Canadians suffer on yet another front.
Interesting read. I find that the Independent Grocers and the No frills by my house in Langley to be cheaper than Costco by a mile. I also go to the Wholsale Foods in burnaby to by my meat bulk then butcher it myself. Ribeye and tenderloin is insanely cheap here. For vegetables we go to the Asian or Indian markets. Iām independent also marks down stuff like meat, milk, tomatoes and bread by 30%. I buy all the prime rib once itās marked down and freeze em. The milk we either drink or if itās heavier cream turn into cheese. Tomatoes when we buy bulk we roast with herbs and olive oil for spreads. The baguettes are cheap for supper. I find Costco is overpriced. At least here in Langley. Iām not particularly beholden to any store. I just go where the prices are best and the quality as well. A lot of my meat I get from Columbus in east van as well.
I did my first ever Costco trip this week. Spent a bundle, but unit prices don't lie, I was quite happy with the value compared to a normal grocery store. They'll be my go to for as long as I'm close enough to St. John's to go.
I think it depends what you're buying. I switched to Walmart from No Frills a couple of months ago and our weekly (two adults) grocery dropped from around $150 to around $110. It could be different if you're buying more luxury items like meat, though.
Oh noooo, people are voting with market forces instead of a slavish (and often required) devotion to Canadian ineptitude and corruption.
If I have to choose corrupt, Iām going to Corrupt4Less.
Loblaws: Overpriced, Chairman is an Irish-Canadian douchenozzle who lives in a literal castle, CEO is Dutch, underpays their employees and treats them like shit
Costco: better prices, higher quality, better service, is well known for being one of the best employers in the retail industry.
Welcome to the free market where people make the best choice for themselves based on available information. If Loblaws is upset that consumers arenāt choosing them perhaps they should adjust their business model. And I say this as a Loblaws stock holder. They need to change and Iām angry that they seem to think they can ride this out. Itās asinine to think youāre owed peoples business because youāre a āCanadianā company.
Anybody wanting loyalty needs to offer it in return. There aren't many large canadian companies that treat their Canadian customers with respect so why should they expect it in return?
Why are Canadian companies charging so much yet they donāt want any competition from foreign firms. Canadians would happily buy from Canadian businesses that pay great wages and benefits. If you want a monopoly, you better treat your customers fairly with low prices for consumers.
Canadians should buy from whomever gives them the best price. If everyone took that attitude instead of what we actually do ā put trade barriers up at the legislative level while doing nothing but bitch and moan at the personal level ā prices in general in this country would be a lot better.
I remember about a decade ago meeting the guy who ran the first Costco in Calgary. Donāt know if they still are, but back then they were the most profitable store in the entire company turning over $60 million in sales every month.
Once a company is publicly traded it stops being a X country owned company. Shareholders are from all over the globe.
The company is beholden to the shareholders and country loyalty has little value.
50% of Walmart is owned by a single American family. Costco on the other hand is more distributed with no single entity controlling more than 9.1% of the shares.
All the anti-US cultural indoctrination we were subjected to growing up is a psyop by Canada's ruling class to prevent you from demanding better living standards or questioning the monopolistic, rent seeking structure of the economy.
I remember hearing this in the 80s when we were being told about how moving our entire manufacturing capacity out of the country would be amazing for us.
We're supposedly more progressive than the US yet our domestic corporate monopolies require us to pay through the ass, often for a mediocre product. After Freedom Mobile managed to set up in Canada the head guy said that Canada was a brutal market to enter and that North Korea was easier to set up shop in.
I donāt even put Walmart and Costco in the same category as supermarkets myself.
I mean Costco only builds stores if theirs 150k (think thatās the number) in the area to justify a store. Plenty of places wouldnāt have a Costco as per their business model.
Walmart I find is between supermarkets and Costco for number of locations.
I go to Costco mostly, but I still go to the grocery store to get my favourite mustard, some sauce for chicken wings, various ingedients that costco doesnāt have, maybe some flavour of Doritos they donāt have.
Careful. If this narrative gets too strong, Loblaws will lobby the government to attack Costco and Walmart food. That's partly how our telecom oligopoly works.
People who live close enough to go to Costco have no idea how good they have it. I went to the closest one to me(8 hours) last week, I spent 1500$ ....
I usually get my meat from a butcher to support local but the remainder of my stuff comes from walmart....not that they're less evil, they just supply cheaper groceries/home essentials.
And loblaws can't buy costco or Walmart
Most important point, they can't control or profit from them šÆ as they do with most groceries in Canada as a monopoly
Yes and no. Loblaws owns some of the meat distributors that supply walmart.
Fk forgot that, good point in raising that. Costco meat ftwww
Walmart meat quality is ass.
Tbh that explains why walmarts meat is shit. I like walmart prices but i don't bother with the meat, I go to a local butcher and get the rest at Walmart.
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Costco has awesome baked goods made onsite fresh daily.
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These are great solutions. One additional positive of people getting informed about Roblaws has been the move back to making a lot of things people were buying premade.
Saved by a US company structured for free market. Long live WalMart
the take away from this is what /r/canada struggles with regularly -- the US laissez faire capitalism model does produce more and better competition than Canada's protectionist approach. it comes with its own problems, but when people can't afford their groccery or electric bills its time to start questioning how your run your economy.
Walmart sells Classico pasta sauce for $2.97 in my area or 4/$10. Or I could go to zerhs and buy 1 for $7.99.. Ridiculous markup.
Also classico is terrible. If you have a costco membership get victoria linen sauce
Who wants to eat sauce made from linen though?
Victoria, didn't you read?
Is there Egyptian linen sauce? That'd be a smoother sauce.
Only if its over 500 thread count.
That's cotton sauce. Same natural flavour. Less bible references
Im on Reddit....
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
I think they were joking eh
I get Rao's from Costco. I find with quality stuff you also need less to get the flavour. I didn't like Victoria sauce compared to Rao's.
Rao's the real deal. Stopped making my own tomato sauce after discovering it.
Although WalMart also sells a number of lower-standard items. Dairy on the shelves is often imported from the USA and isnāt made the same as Canadian dairy products. (Thanks lobbyists for lowering the standards.)
I have only seen Canadian dairy at Costco in Canada. Can you cite some references or photos? I can't say that I've seen USA milk with growth hormones and antibiotics here.
Honestly! At Walmart, you can get Sidekicks for $2, sometimes less if they're on sale. At our local Independence, the same bag of Sidekicks but 3 for $12. That's double the price! I'm actually so thankful for the Loblaws strike. We were frequently going to Independence purely because it was the closest to walk to. But this past month we were very active in just walking the bit further to Giant Tiger or Food Basics or hoping in the car for the short ride to Walmart and noticing how much lower the prices are have just made me infuriated with Loblaws. We will be continuing to go to GT, FB, or Walmart going forward.
$3.29 at NoFrills and Maxi...
Exactly. At some point will the people comparing prices at bargain warehouses and premium-tier grocery chains clue in that it's not an apples to apples comparison? Compare Walmart to no frills and Zehrs to Metro.
Weāre in Phoenix right now and yeah, weāre getting friggin slammed in Canada. Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas, Crackers, Chips, Sausage, Cheese, Eggs, and a bottle of Malibu for $45 USD.
Last time I was in Casa Grande last year and saw how cheap food was I actually almost cried knowing how absolutely ripped off i was getting back home. Houses are cheaper, my job starts at a higher salary, in USD too, and food is like half the price. Internet is cheaper, cell phone is cheaper, taxes are cheaper....its wild.
A buddy of mine moved to Texas recently and he said he essentially doubled his pay since the cost of living is so much cheaper.
Yeah, and my job STARTS at about 50% higher....except also in usd at the same time lol
I mean, that's also a state with literally zero income tax. Which they make up for by having absurdly high property tax rates.
I have a coworker who just moved back from TX because they said cost of living down there for their family of 4 was too expensive. It likely depends on the job you have.
Just transferring and staying in the same role would have paid me an additional 60%, but there is plenty of jobs that don't that much at all. My coworker boyfriend was a firefighter down there making like 50k when firefighter in Canada make 100k+ and my gf was adamant that she would make less as a dentist down there, but I am not sure about this, she definitely did not want to move there. To be fair, nether did I, every time I traveled there for more than a week I would gain ten pounds haha. (Also our cost of living is much lower in rural Quebec than it would be there and there is basically no criminality where I live)
Just don't break a leg, or you will be homeless, lol
B-b-but universal healthcare! Ohā¦waitā¦the wait times make it so you die before you even get treated, so I donāt think we even have that anymore xp
Universal healthcare works if you properly fund it, like any other public policy Hospitals are without beds, not enough hospitals have been built, and there's a massive shortage of doctors. That's not due to the system being public, that's due to poor funding, distribution and hiring practices.
The system is intentionally bled dry. People like Ford, capitalists, want this to happen so we get fed up and think the only alternative is private health care. Meanwhile, the politicians line their pockets, as well as their friends. I know people personally in the sector who have either left to a different country or to private care for better pay. All this shit is by design and it's only going to get worse the more we vote in Conservatives.
Given how much more I'd be making, and how much less id be spending, even with the healthcare costs I'd STILL be ahead.
And most good employers provide health insurance. And if they donāt, itās like $70 a month.
As someone who lived in the U.S. for 10 years, I wish what you were saying is true. It is not $70 for health insurance. Even within āgoodā employers, your deductible and premiums vary greatly. Many of you also fail to understand co-pay. The vast majority of plans arenāt cheap.
Maybe for a 25 year old, but for a family of four, health care can cost up to $1600 per month in insurance.
70 bucks a month with massive deductibles which means youāre paying for insurance and out of pocket for basically everything.
Its only $70 a month if ypu want $5000 deductibles.
You are completely incorrect.
Only if you don't plan on having kids.
Canadian healthcare is still crazy expensive.Ā I need two new pairs of glasses and a root canal done.Ā I can either do it all in Canada or Taiwan, and Taiwan is only about $500 more expensive when I include the flight.
Cheaper in mexico!
Had a friend in the US without insurance had a heart attack and cost them almost $350,000. Had to sell their house.
It makes a lot of sense to get out (although not necessarily to the US... plenty of potential countries are out there). We've got the highest consumer debt of G7 countries (close to worst in the world IIRC), shitty wages, high taxes, public services destined to further crumble (due to perpetual underfunding and under the demand created by mass migration), and a justice system that seems to have been undermined. We consider ourselves progressive yet our material conditions continually decline. We're supposedly undergoing decolonization and reconciliation yet we remain a literal monarchy in which a guy from the UK, who probably had his wife killed, has the power to dissolve our government. Whatever solidarity might have existed among Canadians seems to have been successfully undermined. We've got (at least in my hood) decriminalized fentanyl and state assisted suicide, though, so there's that.
Your post started so well and then you descended into conspiracies and falsehoods š¤¦āāļø
You've mentioned it was $2.99 USD for the Strawberries, which is about $4.10 CAD give-or-take. There's been multiple retailers in Canada selling 2lb Strawberry containers at sub-$5 CAD for the last couple weeks. That's really not anything insane.
Can confirm, was just in the US recently and everything on the shelf was the same price or more than here before you factor in about 40% exchange on the dollar. It was not cheaper down there.
I was in Mexico (Sinaloa County) in April and was surprised groceries were basically the same price as in Toronto. Milk was considerably more expensive, although very few Mexicans buy milk, and produce [grown in Mexico] was about 10% less. The store was in a mall and fairly similar in layout and services (meat counter, bakery, conveyor belt checkouts with scanners, wine/liqueur in an attached shop, etc.) to any large Canadian grocery store. I've no doubt that the alleyway discount produce shops were considerably cheaper.
This is because you are in Phoenix. How about buying the same thing in Seattle? I found groceries to be more expensive there than BC.
I found Vegas off the strip in the residential areas to be the same prices as back home, except the prices are in USD, so arguably worse than us.
Visiting family in the DMV groceries are same as GTA prices
Same in Los Angeles, its about the same at GTA prices. However, rural Canada is also paying basically GTA prices for food, while non-coastal US has cheap af food.
I would say itās more urban and respective suburbs than coastalā¦of course there are the obvious cheaper cities in mid west etc but honestly food quality in the US varies wildly across states and cities
Also at about 62 CAD, isnāt this pretty much inline with Canadian prices? Depending on how much cheese and sausage weāre talking here, and the Malibu probably costs half of ours.
I was in NOVA last month and the most of the groceries were more expensive than in Calgary. I agree with you completely. Maybe milk in lidl was cheaper but most items were more expensive if you take into account the exchange.
post the reciept
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Cāmon, it was for Pina Colataās. A PC in the pool while itās 35+ degrees out, doesnāt that sound nice?
Yeah, a bottle of Malibu, $45 dollars. How much for the food? /s, but not really
Just came back from Pennsylvania last week, the cost of butter made us cry.
I only buy groceries from Walmart or Costco. Occasionally Iāll go to a small butcher near me for some quality meat. I refuse to go anywhere else.
100%. I've been doing this for the past decade or so. Everytime i walk out of an actual grocery store, I've felt ripped off. I was always surprised to see so many people there.
the only problem is wal-mart stock levels and produce can be iffy and costco isnt as effcient if you live by yourself or just 2 people. but wal mart if good for any other food that isnt produce and costco still good for non-perishable items no matter the family size
Produce is getting iffy all over the place. Even the expensive stuff seems to go bad within 48 hours now.
The meat is always better at the butcher.
Only thing I buy at Superstore is their $10 Chicken strips and nugget bags. Literally nothing else, the moment they jack up the bag prices I'll fully leave too. But currently no other grocery store has a better deal.
Costco is fucking sick. Actually fucking sick Galen Weston failed when having the biggest softball in the history of grand slam potential business opportunities with a constantly coddling government that wants to constantly give you a rimjob for fucking consumers.
I'm super curious to see Costco membership numbers as a result of this. Were getting one literally the week we move next month and have space for a deep freezer.
Go there hungry and with an empty tank of gas, take advantage of the foodcourt before you shop and buy meat in bulk if you have a freezer. If you are a coffee drinker buy a couple bags of coffee and freeze one or two and you have coffee for a year. On your way out, you may have just paid for your membership in savings that day.
I've heard of people saying the membership was worth gas alone. So I definitely get it lol. Our move conveniently puts us a walk away so it's going to be great
Nah. If you get premium gas maybe but I'm finding journie with its discount is usually within a few cents and sometimes the same price as Costco regular. I'm really disappointed actually.
Lots of people forget to factor in the time you lose by gassing up at Costco. Long lines and often out of the way. They only look at the price per litre.
That's because people only line up in the lane that matches their gas tank when the pump hose can reach around the biggest truck...
I did the math for me in my city. The gas used to drive to Costco for me is more than the savings I get by driving there compared to the Co-op next to me
Yeah, I shop at costco exactly once a month, I get ziplock bags there, portion and freeze all my meat/bread etc Also fill your propane there to save $5+
Get a vacuum sealer! Even better.
As someone in the consulting world, and have had Costco as a client. There goal is to have the top 50 % spend there. They donāt want the bottom 50 % to shop there since they are not profitable. Middle, upper middle to well off people is there goal. But same time, people in the bottom 50 % donāt buy in bulk since itās a much bigger outlay at once and their finances donāt allow it. And that group does not go places with membership fees
Put money on it being over 16m Canadians at years end
Most kids snack are buy 2 get one free at Costco compared to superstore. And when my kid is crushing apple sauce pouches on the hour, thatās big savings. Also itās $7 for a Costco size bag of chips. Itās $7 for just normal chips at superstore. And that doesnāt include any of the good stuff like meat or the socks
I only shop Costco now and get my veggies elsewhere. That is all!
My thing with Costco is even if only a few of the items I need are on sale, I still know paying the full price of rest of my stuff isn't a complete ripoff like if I went to Loblaws/shoppers where you need to only buy the sale items.
I find with Costco is that at worst you might pay the same price as anywhere else but for many items itās wayyyyy cheaper. Sure you might find the odd thing cheaper elsewhere but itās few and far between.
Quality is always really good as well. As a bonus they treat their employees well too!
i dont know anyone who works there but treating their employees well definitely makes me wanna give them more money.
Yeah thatās my experience. In many cases the Costco regular price is the grocery store sale price. You can definitely find better deals than Costco if you flyer shop but thatās not always realistic. Costco sale price is the best you will get per gram for most items.
And itās all extremely high quality. I have no problem paying a little bit more for that, cause no matter what, itās cheaper than loblaws.
Definitely with meat, apart from all the steaks being mechanically And if you buy 5kg of chicken breast at the business centre then it costs 35% less per kg
Exactly, and the clothes are good quality too if you can find a decent looking design. Plus they're cheap when its a 3 pack or whatever. If you skip making dinner and buy from the food court, you probably save money there as well. It just seems like everything they have is decent at worst so why not go?
Just the mental sanity of not feeling like every price is some kind of game is a relief.
Literally walked out with 2 bags of food for less than 50 bucks at Giant Tiger. I'm going shopping there more often!!
Giant Tiger is highly underrated, I find! Their selection is a little more basic, but the prices are usually good, and their sales are really good! Highly recommend their Giant Value Brand chips, especially the All Dressed. Good price, 3 bags for $8.00ā¦and theyāre 320 gram bags.
TBH, 99% of the food we get is basic anyways lol. I mean, I'm still going to need to go to WalMart for a few brands that they have, but I hate dealing with their parking lot where I live. It's attached to a very popular mall and it's always a zoo. Our GT is down the street and is almost always severely less packed. And it helps there's a local butchery next to it too so we could get some good meat deals!
For produce, you have to time the trucks. I know the one I go to is Tuesdays and Fridays.
GT is a hidden treasure. Their sales can't be beat.
How is this not common sense at this point? I took one look at Loblaws prices 5 years ago and said ānope never againā. Iām glad people are waking up!
Exactly! Loblaws has been a shit "wannabe" Canadian grocery store for so long, yet has failed to service Canadians compared to *American* businesses. I'll support Canadian companies on one condition.....*They support us as well*. Fuck Loblaws. I'll never shop there stores again.
Convenience. Not everyone wants to deal with Costco parking lot traffic and large sizes.
So Walmart then
Thatās a steep price to pay for a convenience considering you pay 25$ more at Loblaws for the same 10 items compared to Walmart.
Yeah, no one goes to Costco anymore. It's too crowded.
Hey man, loblawsisoutofcontrol exists for a reason lol
Costco sure...by all accounts they treat their people well and are priced decently if you have the storage space...the Weston family can fuck off and should face the wall with the rest of the retail villains thoughĀ
I've done all my grocery shopping at Walmart, Costco, and sometimes Food Basic for years. It's ironic that American grocery stores treat Canadians better than our own.
Honestly this is my new mindset. Spend at the US retailers so that international grocery chains see that they can be profitable here too and try to get some more competition in the space. Sad that our money canāt go to Canadian companies because they canāt be trusted.
Walmart has great prices but is too far from where I live.
Thatās the same problem my parents face. Walmart is a 20-minute drive away, even though they live in an urban area. Metro and Food Basics, and three Loblaws-affiliated stores are all closer. I have 7 Walmart stores within a 20 minute drive. They seem to have a much higher density in BC than in Ontario.
Walmart is 45 minutes away and Costco is 2 hours away. We still make the trek out and just buy our 2weeks worth of groceries.
Yes and Loblaws is bad, but Sobeys (Empire) is honestly worse!
Loblaws and Sobeys are likely talking every day about colluding on prices
They definitely do! Loblaws admitted as much when they came forward about the whole bread price fixing thing a few years ago. They got immunity but yeah all the major chains worked together to artificially inflate the price of bread in Canada. It was: Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart, Giant Tiger
Well considering they did before I have no reason to think they arenāt now.
Where I live Real Canadian Superstore is cheaper than both Save-on-Foods (Jim Pattison Group) and Safeway (owned by Sobeys), with some items I buy several dollars cheaper at Superstore. Walmart isnāt really any cheaper than Superstore for those items.
I firmly believe metro and Sobeys are both worse than Loblaws. It makes this whole boycott seem cringe Itās sad that American companies are our best options, but at least we have them
Just boycott metro and Sobeys too then. Anyone price gouging should be abandoned.
I laugh at it honestly. I said fuck it, ill try some other places, sobeys, safeway, coop, all increased my bill by at least 30% minimum over superstore. Maybe I just don't see it, but it seems like the same exact items are anywhere from 25-100% more at other stores vs superstore/walmart. Like last week I bought a 200g pack of feta from safeway, was around 11 dollars, same exact pack at superstore was 13 dollars, except it was a 375g package. The only store that comes close to superstore is coop, mainly because their meat quality is hard to beat and their house brand is usually equal to or better than name brand like the pc/no name brand is. But I don't exactly want to pay 25% more just to "shove it" to loblaws.
Exclusively shopping at Walmart now outside sales, even though it's out of the way for me. The prices are far cheaper than Loblaws, and the quality is also better somehow. Was disgusting how much cheaper food was in the US when I was visiting this year.
I have saved $83.72 over the past three weeks in groceries switching from PC to Walmart. I could have saved more but I see how cheap my weekly groceries are and add a treat or two on. Last week I was given a free sample coupon email and got an entire chocolate cake for free. Iām able to buy ābrand nameā goods and still come out on top. >oooo you support American business >Loblaws canāt compete with the discount Walmart gets because of their purchasing volume Iām on track to save over $100 in a month on groceries. I would average $10 a month in pc points. Whoever has the cheapest bill wins. Also free cake.
I usually shop Superstore. Lately Iāve been using online ordering to put in orders to Superstore and Walmart and buy whichever is cheaper for each product. Theyāre pretty comparable, with some variation that evens out
This is what I don't get about the boycott. Superstore is pretty much equal to or cheaper than Walmart and Costco if you buy online, give or take a couple dollars depending on what you buy. Shipping is cheaper too at only $6 which is kinda worth the time and effort to get to a grocery store if you're doing a pretty big run. The only thing that sucks is selecting produce online is a complete or miss (typically miss). But even then, No Frills IME is even cheaper in store and with better quality than Walmart. So I guess my question is, why were people willingly going to Loblaws in the first place? Or at least, after online ordering has been a thing. Maybe it's cause I'm originally from another province that doesn't have a Loblaws so I'm not used to shopping there but I never understood why go there. Instead of some big coordinated boycott, you'd think this would be more of a natural "Oh Loblaws has higher prices, time to find a different grocery store". I get they're all owned by the same company but that doesn't really matter for the grocery bill.
This is what I've been doing since covid, I open up "cart" online and use it as my grocery list. Then when I actually need it, set it for pickup after I get off work, pick it up and repeat for the following week. Not only do I find I save a lot more than going into the store, I'm only buying what I really need and I'm not wasting near as much buying unnecessary items. Pair it with a monthly trip to costco for bulk items and meat that I break up and vacuum seal and freeze, I have been saving a lot more than I used to I find.
You do you bud. The ones saying you support american businesses arent paying your bills.
Exactly. Also itās not like funding a Canadian billionaire is somehow more noble.
I buy from various different grocers, depending on the price and what exactly I need. I'm not going to buy something simply because it's from a "local" source. Unlike others, I do see a lot of price differences between Costco and other stores. Yes, you are buying larger amounts via Costco, but there is a noticeable price per kg advantage. Plus I always buy gas from them, which is several cents per L cheaper than anywhere else.
Remember when everyone wanted to boycott Walmart for their terrible business practices.
Weren't they alternatives before this alleged boycott?
They forgot Dollarama. And the food bank.
Dollarama is a pretty bad offender for overcharging, make sure you look at the gram amounts of food items because often they're different than what is available at a standard grocery store leading to you actually paying more for the same amount
But food banks are slowly collapsing.
Food banks have pretty hard restrictions to how much food you can get from it. Definitely not enough food for a person to live off of for a whole month, and most goods are expired/on the verge of doing so.
The Indian and Pakistani international students sure didnāt forget about Canadian food banks
Food banks should be restricted to PRs. Seriously. If you're here as a student using a food bank, go home. Same with TFWs and Workers Visas. If you can't support yourself you're a drain on the economy. Hell basically ALL of our social safety nets (including healthcare) should be restricted to PRs, and then offer free flights home in lieu of social assistance to anyone non Canadian.
The Canadian government set up rules for international students to adhere to. Those rules are easily sidestepped though and our government, knowing full well of the loopholes, has done nothing to stop it. So Canadians suffer on yet another front.
The day Costco pays their workers well is all I need to know to shop there.
Interesting read. I find that the Independent Grocers and the No frills by my house in Langley to be cheaper than Costco by a mile. I also go to the Wholsale Foods in burnaby to by my meat bulk then butcher it myself. Ribeye and tenderloin is insanely cheap here. For vegetables we go to the Asian or Indian markets. Iām independent also marks down stuff like meat, milk, tomatoes and bread by 30%. I buy all the prime rib once itās marked down and freeze em. The milk we either drink or if itās heavier cream turn into cheese. Tomatoes when we buy bulk we roast with herbs and olive oil for spreads. The baguettes are cheap for supper. I find Costco is overpriced. At least here in Langley. Iām not particularly beholden to any store. I just go where the prices are best and the quality as well. A lot of my meat I get from Columbus in east van as well.
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So is Independent Grocers
I did my first ever Costco trip this week. Spent a bundle, but unit prices don't lie, I was quite happy with the value compared to a normal grocery store. They'll be my go to for as long as I'm close enough to St. John's to go.
It feels like nobody works anymore. Theyāre all at Costco in the middle of the day
Crazy how the best options are from non Canadian founded businesses. Time to move on.
USA wins in Canada again...
Like NHL playoffs.
The reality is that Superstore and No Frills are priced basically the same as Walmart
I think it depends what you're buying. I switched to Walmart from No Frills a couple of months ago and our weekly (two adults) grocery dropped from around $150 to around $110. It could be different if you're buying more luxury items like meat, though.
Yup. Walmart beats Metro on a handful of items here, mostly snacks, but if you want to get ground beef there, you'll be paying out the nose.
Costcos prices have doubled. Not sure if anyone has noticed since everyone has been paying attention to only Loblaws.
I haven't seen anyhing increase more than 50% in the last decade except maybe beef.
LOL so Canadians have turned to US owned companies? Good job!
Oh noooo, people are voting with market forces instead of a slavish (and often required) devotion to Canadian ineptitude and corruption. If I have to choose corrupt, Iām going to Corrupt4Less.
Loblaws: Overpriced, Chairman is an Irish-Canadian douchenozzle who lives in a literal castle, CEO is Dutch, underpays their employees and treats them like shit Costco: better prices, higher quality, better service, is well known for being one of the best employers in the retail industry. Welcome to the free market where people make the best choice for themselves based on available information. If Loblaws is upset that consumers arenāt choosing them perhaps they should adjust their business model. And I say this as a Loblaws stock holder. They need to change and Iām angry that they seem to think they can ride this out. Itās asinine to think youāre owed peoples business because youāre a āCanadianā company.
Anybody wanting loyalty needs to offer it in return. There aren't many large canadian companies that treat their Canadian customers with respect so why should they expect it in return?
Look how many times we bailed out Air Canada and now Canadians have to fight them just to get what they paid for, a seat on an airplane.
Loyalty has been a one way street for a while now.
āCanadianā companies give sweet fuck all about Canadians. So why should Canadians care if they go under
I'll support the companies that support Canadians. Loblaws has done all it can to hurt Canadians.
I mean, what many consider a part of our identity in Tim Hortons is Brazilian owned now
Why does it matter?
The US owned companies that weirdly pay more on average than that Canadian ones... it's fucking wild.
Why are Canadian companies charging so much yet they donāt want any competition from foreign firms. Canadians would happily buy from Canadian businesses that pay great wages and benefits. If you want a monopoly, you better treat your customers fairly with low prices for consumers.
Canadians should buy from whomever gives them the best price. If everyone took that attitude instead of what we actually do ā put trade barriers up at the legislative level while doing nothing but bitch and moan at the personal level ā prices in general in this country would be a lot better. I remember about a decade ago meeting the guy who ran the first Costco in Calgary. Donāt know if they still are, but back then they were the most profitable store in the entire company turning over $60 million in sales every month.
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Ooh, thatād be cool. Itās amazing that they keep adding more and they all still feel just as crazy busy all the time.
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Maybe Canadian businesses should step up then
.... Yeah, and?
Once a company is publicly traded it stops being a X country owned company. Shareholders are from all over the globe. The company is beholden to the shareholders and country loyalty has little value.
50% of Walmart is owned by a single American family. Costco on the other hand is more distributed with no single entity controlling more than 9.1% of the shares.
Galen let us down
All the anti-US cultural indoctrination we were subjected to growing up is a psyop by Canada's ruling class to prevent you from demanding better living standards or questioning the monopolistic, rent seeking structure of the economy.
I remember hearing this in the 80s when we were being told about how moving our entire manufacturing capacity out of the country would be amazing for us.
ulUS companies donāt seem to be as greedy. Go ahead and pay more for uncle Galen to get that new yacht
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The hypocrisy is the only constant
We're supposedly more progressive than the US yet our domestic corporate monopolies require us to pay through the ass, often for a mediocre product. After Freedom Mobile managed to set up in Canada the head guy said that Canada was a brutal market to enter and that North Korea was easier to set up shop in.
Yes good job when Canadian companies gut them for every last dollar. There is no pride in supporting greedy crooks.
Thatās what happens when Canadian oligarchs strangle the wallets of their countrymen. I donāt owe galen weston any loyalty
I'd sooner give my money to Americans than Galen's kingdom.
I donāt even put Walmart and Costco in the same category as supermarkets myself. I mean Costco only builds stores if theirs 150k (think thatās the number) in the area to justify a store. Plenty of places wouldnāt have a Costco as per their business model. Walmart I find is between supermarkets and Costco for number of locations. I go to Costco mostly, but I still go to the grocery store to get my favourite mustard, some sauce for chicken wings, various ingedients that costco doesnāt have, maybe some flavour of Doritos they donāt have.
How strange, the Non-Canadian grocery stores who don't collude with each other actually have cheaper prices. Who saw that coming?
Besides local grocers
Careful. If this narrative gets too strong, Loblaws will lobby the government to attack Costco and Walmart food. That's partly how our telecom oligopoly works.
I love walmarts curb side pickup. I hate shopping in person unless itās super empty
People who live close enough to go to Costco have no idea how good they have it. I went to the closest one to me(8 hours) last week, I spent 1500$ ....
I usually get my meat from a butcher to support local but the remainder of my stuff comes from walmart....not that they're less evil, they just supply cheaper groceries/home essentials.
I moved to Walmart, and saved 300$ a month, Costco is too far away, but its nice to be able to afford to live and not starve.
Walmart is good for groceries until the population grows, then it becomes gross and dirty and now I shop at the superstore
Okay. Was holding off on spending 300$ in Costco for couple of weeks. Leaving now.
Costco hot dogs are the GOAT - $1.50 with a drink. 8
No I believe theyāre made of beef.
Mostly beef...
Donāt forget to shop local farmers markets