Complaints about misleading “Made in Canada” claims on food products have skyrocketed since the United States signaled tariffs on Canadian goods, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Inspectors say the surge reflects growing consumer awareness of country-of-origin labeling.Blacklock's Reporter says a memo from September 22 shows the agency now receives an average of 23 complaints per month, compared with just one or two per month before February 2025, when the U.S. announced potential tariffs. The complaints include misuse of the maple leaf, “Product of Canada,” and other Canadian content claims.“Since February 2025 … the number of complaints received by the Agency about country of origin claims on food labels and advertisements has increased,” the memo states. “The rise in consumer complaints could be attributed to an increase in awareness and interest in country of origin labeling.”Of 191 complaints received last year, 56 confirmed breaches of regulations, while 43 were referred to provincial authorities. Guidelines dating to 2008 require products labeled “Product of Canada” to be at least 98% Canadian in ingredients, processing, and labor, allowing only negligible foreign content. Last year, the allowable non-Canadian content was raised to 15% at industry request. .Retailers may also use qualifying labels such as “Made in Canada from domestic and imported ingredients” or “contains 100% Canadian blueberries.”The agency emphasized that using “Product of Canada” or “Made in Canada” is voluntary and provides guidelines to help companies comply with labeling rules.Courts have long dealt with disputes over the labels’ strict definitions. In 2013, a Thorndale, Ont. winery successfully labeled its wine “all-Canadian” despite sweetening it with imported glucose syrup. In 2017, a Vancouver winery was permitted to market Okanagan cider as Canadian even though some juice from U.S.-grown apples was added post-fermentation.Federal Court Justice David Graham used a vivid example involving red Smarties to illustrate the legal reasoning: adding the “Made in Canada” label does not change the composition of a product. “Did it go back to having green, yellow and purple Smarties mixed in? Of course not. That is because the addition of the description ‘made in Canada’ did not take away from the fact that the pile was composed wholly of red Smarties,” Graham wrote.
