Canadian shoppers are not just clipping the odd coupon anymore; they are actively deal-hopping. A July 9 release from Retail Council of Canada, based on a Leger shopper sentiment study, says price remains the starting point for many buying decisions, but the bigger story is how quickly households now move between stores, websites, delivery options, loyalty offers and comparison tools. RCC reported that 58% of purchases are completed in-store and 39% online, while 66% of shoppers use in-store browsing as part of their research process. For families trying to keep the weekly basket under control, that means the modern deal hunt is no longer one flyer on Thursday night. It is a mix of checking unit prices in the aisle, watching online stock, comparing pickup fees, and deciding when a loyalty offer is actually worth changing stores.
The pressure behind that behaviour is real. Statistics Canada reported that the Consumer Price Index rose 3.2% year over year in May, up from 2.8% in April. Food purchased from stores rose 4.3% year over year, marking the 16th consecutive month that grocery inflation outpaced headline inflation. Fresh produce was a key pain point: fresh fruit prices rose 5.3% year over year, fresh vegetables rose 9.0%, and tomato prices were up 45.2% amid supply contractions in Mexico, poor weather and reduced planted acreage after U.S. tariffs. Gasoline was another budget squeeze, rising 33.2% year over year in May. Even when a grocery item is not directly affected by fuel, shoppers can still feel the cost through delivery charges, store trips and the temptation to make extra runs for one missing item.
The best takeaway from the RCC study is that switching is now normal, not a failure of loyalty. RCC said 72% of shoppers experienced at least one issue in the previous three months, with out-of-stock products at 30% and delivery delays at 18% among the most common problems. When expectations are not met, 37% switch retailers because of out-of-stock items and 33% cite poor customer service. For CanadianShopping.com readers, the practical move is to build a two-store plan instead of a five-store marathon. Pick one primary store for staples and one backup for price matches, produce, meat or household basics. Before leaving home, check the items that often break the budget: fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, coffee, eggs, pet food and cleaning supplies. If a key sale item is out of stock online or in the app, do not drive across town on hope; switch the meal plan or the retailer before spending fuel and time.
Digital tools can help, but they should be treated like calculators, not shopping bosses. RCC found that 11% of shoppers had used AI assistants for shopping research in the past 30 days. Among those AI users, 46% said they found products faster, 43% compared options more easily and 40% saved time overall. That is useful for narrowing down a baby seat, air fryer, detergent format or back-to-school tech list, but it does not replace basic shopper checks. Look for the all-in price after delivery, marketplace seller fees, recycling or environmental fees, and minimum order thresholds. When comparing groceries, check the unit price and package size because a bigger-looking package can be the worse deal. When comparing household goods, search the exact model number, not just the brand name, so reviews and recalls line up with the item in your cart.
Loyalty programs deserve the same hard look. The Competition Bureau announced in June that it is examining competition across Canada’s food supply chain, including retail pricing practices such as loyalty programs, pricing algorithms, shrinkflation and skimpflation. The Bureau is asking Canadians and organizations to share input by July 31, 2026, and plans to publish a final report in spring 2027. For shoppers, this is a reminder that points are only savings after the math works. A strong points offer on chicken, cereal or diapers can be worth using, but not if the shelf price is already higher than a nearby competitor or if the offer pushes you to buy more than you can use. Keep a simple notes app list of your real buy prices for ten repeat items. If a loyalty deal beats your usual price, take it. If it only creates a future points balance while today’s bill rises, skip it.
July is also a good month to turn comparison shopping into a routine rather than a chore. Build the weekly menu around two or three flexible anchors: one sale protein, one cheaper produce group, and one pantry meal such as beans, lentils, pasta, rice or frozen vegetables. Use pickup or delivery when it prevents impulse buys, but choose in-store shopping when you need to inspect produce, use a clearance sticker, or make substitutions on the fly. Check whether a delivery fee is lower than the cost of a separate gas-and-time trip. If you receive a government benefit payment or a household top-up, avoid spending it all on one large stock-up unless the items are shelf-stable, genuinely discounted and already part of your normal routine. The goal is not to chase every deal; it is to remove the expensive surprises.
The bottom line: Canadian shoppers are becoming more tactical because they have to be. Fresh food inflation, fuel costs, stock gaps and loyalty complexity all reward people who compare before they buy. But the winning strategy is boring and repeatable: keep a short price book, compare unit prices, use apps for stock and coupons, keep one backup store, and switch without guilt when a retailer misses the mark. That approach will not make tomatoes cheap overnight or fix every supply-chain problem, but it can keep a July basket from drifting higher one small decision at a time.
Source trail: Retail Council of Canada via CNW — “New Research: How Canadian Shoppers Are Navigating Affordability -- And What It Means for Competition and Choice” — https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/new-research-how-canadian-shoppers-are-navigating-affordability-and-what-it-means-for-competition-and-choice-853064055.html Statistics Canada — “Consumer Price Index, May 2026” — https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260622/dq260622a-eng.htm Competition Bureau Canada — “Competition Bureau to examine competition across Canada’s food supply chain” — https://www.canada.ca/en/competition-bureau/news/2026/06/competition-bureau-to-examine-competition-across-canadas-food-supply-chain.html Canada Revenue Agency — “Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit one-time top-up payment to make groceries and other essentials more affordable is coming June 5” — https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/2026/04/canada-groceries-and-essentials-benefit-one-time-top-up-payment-to-make-groceries-and-other-essentials-more-affordable-is-coming-june-5.html