Not-for-profit grocery stores are coming to Toronto and the NDP wants 50 of them across the country. Dr. Sylvain Charlebois was in a university classroom 15 years ago when a student suggested nationalizing food distribution and the whole room laughed. He is not laughing now. He is asking whether anyone has looked at the numbers.

What does it mean to promise 40 percent savings when grocery store margins run at three to four percent and the cost of goods is 70 to 75 cents of every dollar before anyone has paid rent or staff? Dr. Sylvain Charlebois says unless someone is giving away the food, that math does not resolve. The not-for-profit stores in Toronto will still be buying from the same wholesale sources as every other grocer. The advantage disappears before the doors open.

There is a version of this that makes sense. Food deserts where the private sector will not go. The North, where Ottawa has consistently failed to make food affordable and accessible. Twenty to twenty-five stores serving communities that need them. Dr. Sylvain Charlebois says that is a purpose. We just have not heard it yet.

Topics: not-for-profit grocery store Canada, Toronto grocery store feasibility, NDP federal grocery chain, food desert grocery access, co-op grocery Canada

GUEST: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois | @‌foodprofessor

Originally aired on2026-04-02