Dive Brief:

• Canada’s industry minister James Moore Tuesday said that the Canadian government is considering legislation that would allow its Competition Bureau, a government agency akin to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, to investigate price gouging, where retailers list higher prices in Canada for the same goods sold in the U.S.

• The bill would allow the Competition Bureau to determine whether differing prices constitute price gouging. Many U.S. retailers charge higher prices in Canada based on currency differences, tariffs, and higher costs of labor, transportation, and other logistics.

• The proposed law would allow the bureau to compel companies to document that any price differences are reasonable; many say the proposal is unworkable.

Dive Insight:

Many Canadians are keenly aware of the lower prices to be found in the U.S. on many of the same goods — it’s why so many drive across the border to shop. This bill follows through on the Conservative government’s vow to narrow the price gap between the U.S. and Canada. 

"It's called geographic price discrimination. A more blunt way of putting it is to call it ... price gouging of Canadian consumers because of where Canadians live," industry minister James Moore said Tuesday, speaking at a Toronto toy retailer. “These price differences are real, they hurt the bottom line of hard-working families, and they hurt Canadian retailers who have to absorb this cost of unfair pricing."

But, of course, that’s easier said than done. Teasing out the very real added costs of doing retail business in Canada would cost a lot in and of itself.