As shoppers are encouraged to 'buy Canadian' amid the threat of U.S. tariffs, buying Canadian-made products might be harder than expected.
Dr. Matt Wilson, a professor at the University of Windsor's Odette School of Business, told AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg that given the complex nature of today's supply chains, by the time a product reaches the shelves, it may contain inputs or components from multiple countries and have undergone manufacturing processes in various places.
"It can be very difficult to unwind and figure out how Canadian something actually is. Adding to this confusion is the different terminology and labelling used in different industries," he says.
Wilson says there are two labels that consumers should be on the lookout for - "product of Canada" and "made in Canada."
He says the "product of Canada" claim is subject to a higher threshold of Canadian content.
"If customers see the label on the packaging, product of Canada, they can have confidence it is a Canadian product. For food products, this means all or nearly all of the food processing and labour used to make the product is Canadian," he says.
Wilson says when it comes to "made in Canada" food products, it means the last substantial transformation of the product occurred in Canada.
"If you're a manufacturer of, let's say, a frozen pizza, the processing of cheese, dough, sauce, and other ingredients to make that pizza would make that a substantial transformation. So even if those individual products came from outside of Canada, that would still fit for made in Canada," he says.
For non-food products, "made in Canada" means that 51 per cent of the costs of producing or manufacturing that good occurred in Canada.
Late Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the tariffs on Canada would not be implemented for at least 30 more days, just days after U.S. President Donald Trump said they would begin on Tuesday.