Made in Canada

[1][3] Before 2018, labels for imported produce were required to include all countries of origin for the contents contained in the package, per the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Regulations.

Canadian legislation regarding country-of-origin marks began in the late 19th century in response to import laws and practices of Great Britain and the United States.

[note 4] Following thorough consultation with industry stakeholders, the Dairy Act, 1897, required producers to register and to mark with "Canada" or "Canadian" all cheese or butter intended for export.

[14] While it has authority over deceptive marketing across all goods and services, the Bureau has generally allowed the CFIA and Health Canada to enforce the Act with regard to food and drugs.

Made in Canada claims required a qualifying statement for any imported materials, and the guidelines advised on the use of other terms and national symbols.

[17] Brad Cherniak of Sapient Capital Partners said that carrying the Made in Canada mark gave no advantage to most products and could be "a public relations nightmare" if a business was forced to remove it.

He noted that domestic branding and design work could, in some cases, exceed the costs of physical manufacturing overseas, and qualify an otherwise foreign product for a Made in Canada mark.

[2] In a 2005 report commissioned by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, the second most-cited issue by interviewed horticulture stakeholders involved claims of fraudulent quality or origin labelling.

[22] In 2017, food supply company Mucci International Marketing was fined $1.5 million by the Canada Food Inspection Agency, $3.2 million by the not-for-profit greenhouse industry trade group Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, and placed on probation for five years for making fraudulent claims about the origin of some of its vegetables.

[19] In 2014, the federal government formed a private-sector steering committee to develop a privately funded Made in Canada branding campaign.

[24] Economics professor Dan Trefler called the branding campaign "nothing but political pandering", and unlikely to further change the minds of domestic shoppers or foreign importers.

[5][note 7] The proposal to update the regulations is also intended as part of a broader strategy to create a Canada brand for agricultural products.