josh james / CC
One of the most common items found in a grocery basket is two per cent milk.
Field Agent Canada conducted its annual look at prices across the country.
General Manager Jeff Doucette says they surveyed 185 retailers in 20 markets between May 7th and June 1st…and compared prices to March of last year, “On average, milk prices in Canada are up about 3.6 per cent and there are only two of those twenty markets we measured that had a decrease. The rest of them all had an increase.”
The two markets with price decreases were Charlottetown and Victoria, British Columbia.
The biggest increase was Halifax, with a hike of 11 per cent.
“Looking specifically at Moncton, we saw 4.4 per cent increase in the price of milk. Moncton also has the most expensive four-litre milk that we measured in all of Canada. An average of $7.13 for that item,” Doucette says.
Where is the cheapest milk in Canada? For the four-litre size, Doucette says it is in Sudbury, Ontario where shoppers are paying an average of $4.68.
In St. John’s, Newfoundland, four-litre jugs are not available, but shoppers pay a whopping $3.90 on average for a small two-litre carton.
“Since we first launched this report in 2015 we have been highlighting the inefficiencies and inequalities of the milk market in Canada which has wide swings from city to city while the price of a two-litre Coca-Cola is essentially the same in every Walmart across Canada. We will continue to publish this report so consumers have the facts to raise to their local politicians to fight for change,” stated Doucette.
You can view the full report here.
