Grocery store prices vary across Canada, and where you choose to shop can have a significant impact on your weekly food bill.
No Frills
No Frills maintains the lowest prices by eliminating nearly every convenience available at a typical grocery store. They do not have a freshly prepared deli, decorative displays, or cashiers bagging your groceries. Literally “no frills”, it’s a warehouse-style store where you bag your own groceries at checkout. They save money by keeping their overhead low and selling bulk generic brands like No Name, so a cart full of typical pantry items, dairy, and produce will often have the lowest overall bill.
Food Basics / Super C
This is a chain of discount supermarkets owned by Metro (Food Basics in Ontario, Super C in Quebec). Like No Frills, they cut costs by not offering service counters. You will not see a custom meat counter or a fresh baked goods counter in a Food Basics. Everyday regular prices are slightly higher than at No Frills, but Food Basics’ weekly circulars are known to have some of the lowest prices on produce and meat.
FreshCo
FreshCo is a discounted store chain owned by Sobeys created to rival discount stores, with an emphasis on brighter and cleaner stores. Prices are low due to higher volumes of cheaper store-brand products like Compliments and an aggressive price matching policy. If you find an advertised lower price on an identical product at another store’s weekly flyer, FreshCo will match it when you pay.
Walmart Canada
Although technically a department store and not an actual supermarket, Walmart carries some of the lowest prices in Canada. Since they buy their inventory in bulk quantities from around the world, Walmart can offer very low everyday prices on boxed goods, cereal, milk, and household supplies. Produce and meat prices can be hit or miss depending on the store, but for general pantry items, they beat regular grocers hands down.
Real Canadian Superstore
Superstore is a large big-box discount grocery store owned by the same company as No Frills (Loblaw). Prices on the regular shelves are slightly higher than what you would find at a pure discount store, but Superstore carries groceries, clothing and pharmacy products all in one location. It is a good middle-of-the-road option as it price matches local competitors, has bulk-buy savings, and allows you to earn rewarding cash-back bonuses by shopping through their PC Optimum rewards program.
Save-On-Foods
Save-On-Foods primarily serves Western Canada. Prices at Save-On-Foods are average. If you come in and purchase grocery items at their regular prices without taking advantage of sales, your total will be high. But if you shop Sales from their weekly flyer and use their More Rewards card when you check out, your tab will be an average low price.
Metro
Metro is a conventional, full-service supermarket chain operating primarily in Ontario and Quebec. Here you are paying top dollar for convenience, clean aisles, 24-hour city locations, and hot meals freshly prepared in-store.
The bakery, deli, and meat counters are of noticeably better quality than a discount store, but everyday products such as canned goods, snacks, and dairy are marked up clearly from discount sister store Food Basics.
Loblaws
Loblaws is Loblaw’s flagship upscale banner. What confuses most people is that Loblaws carries identical store-brand products (like President’s Choice and No Name) that can be found at Superstore and No Frills, but mark-ups on these products are higher. At Loblaws, you’re paying top dollar for refined displays, service butcher counters, bakeries, and an expanded gourmet market.
Sobeys/Safeway
Sobeys (or Safeway in Western Canada) pride themselves on offering customers a premium shopping experience, offering wider aisles, higher staff levels, superior service, and great produce. Due to their elevated base prices, household staples, meat, and dairy are the most expensive non-sale items in Canada.
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