Quebec food prices expected to climb and variety to shrink as trade war escalates

The owner of a produce shop in Montreal's Outremont borough isn't looking forward to the escalating trade war between the United States and Canada.

"It's going to increase the cost of our products and subsequently, we're probably going to have to increase our prices," said Patrick Yoo of Marché Frères Young.

"Or we're going to have to reduce certain offerings."

Quebecers can likely expect more of the same across the province, as Canada promises retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. for imposing a 25 per cent surtax on virtually all Canadian products.

In the U.S., these tariffs will make most Canadian goods less competitive, as American importers will now have to pay a 25 per cent levy to bring them into the country. Those added costs could then be passed on to American consumers, pushing up prices.

Canada's counter-tariffs mean American goods, including food products, will likely become more expensive in Quebec, or may no longer be available, as Canadian importers face higher costs. These costs are likely to then be passed on to consumers.

It's not a small number of American products either. In 2024, $2.19 billion in food products were imported into Quebec from the United States, according to the province's Agriculture Ministry.

Food prices may be the first to take a hit because such items are perishable and can only be stored for a relatively short period of time, said Adelphe Ekponon, assistant professor of finance at the University of Ottawa.

Still, he said, eventually "everything will be impacted."

But non-perishables can be stored and Altra Foods, a warehouse in the city's east that specializes in importing kosher food, has been stocking up.

Unsure where trade talks will go, the company shipped in as much product as possible ahead of the tariffs coming into effect.

About half of the company's products come from the U.S., and with trade tensions on the rise, the cost of business will likely go up, according to Altra Foods president Jack Hartstein.

"The American products that we have are the products that are going to present an issue, and some of them just don't have substitutes," he said.

One place where the shelves may seem less stocked is Quebec's liquor board, the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ). All American-made products will be stripped from the Crown corporation's offerings in the coming days.