October 1, 2014
Canadian consumers pay for certain dairy and poultry products at prices 10% to 62% higher than their US counterparts, a newly released study said.
The study, conducted by three University of Manitoba economists and scheduled to appear in Canada's top economic journal, the Canadian Public Policy, compared the average prices of 10 dairy and poultry products in Canadian and US cities close to their borders, including Winnipeg.
Economists Ryan Cardwell, Chad Lawley and Di Xiang found the biggest price discrepancy (69%) in fresh whole chicken, which was priced US$3.11/kg in the US and US$5.26/kg in Canada.
The chicken legs had the smallest price discrepancy-- US$3.22/kg in the US against US$3.55/kg in Canada.
A 62% difference was also found in the cost of a dozen large eggs--US$2.39 in Canada against US$1.48 in the US.
The researchers said Canada's supply-management system, which imposes high taxes on imported poultry and dairy products, "is highly regressive" because it gives greater financial burden on low-income earners than the high-income earners.
They cited data from Statistics Canada showing the country's poorest households spending about 2.3% of their annual income on dairy and poultry products, while the richest households spend only 0.5%.
