Sylvain Charlebois: Food Tax Reform Keeps Colliding With Governments’ Need for Revenue
Commentary Quebec is poised to become the second province in Canada in recent weeks to roll back provincial sales taxes on food-related items, reinforcing a broader truth governments increasingly struggle to defend: taxing food has always been a flawed way to shape consumer behaviour. Unlike Manitoba, however, Quebec is taking a broader and arguably more pragmatic approach by extending relief to healthier ready-to-eat products and convenience foods. Under current tax rules in several provinces, basic groceries are exempt from provincial sales taxes, while many prepared or ready-to-eat foods remain taxable. That distinction matters. Too often, public policy assumes that only “junk food” is taxed, when in reality many prepared and nutritious options remain subject to provincial sales taxes simply because they are convenient....
