Loblaw is now backing Canada’s Grocery Code of Conduct, the company announced on Thursday (May 16).

Canada’s largest grocer made the announcement at its Brampton Supplier Summit with more than 1,300 suppliers in attendance. Backing the revised Code, Loblaw says, is part of its “continued commitment to promoting a fair and transparent grocery industry in Canada.”

The path to the code was first initiated by the federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture as a volunteer, industry-led solution. The code’s more than two-year development has been a collaboration by organizations within the grocery industry.

The decision to finally support the code follows lengthy discussions between Loblaw and the code’s interim board and working group, six months in the making and all that’s left is for all major industry to sign on and to “to help bring in a new era for Canada’s grocery industry,” Loblaw CEO Per Bank says.

“We have worked intensively and collaboratively with industry groups so that the code is clearly drafted and fair for all industry participants,” Bank says. “We believe in the value of a code of conduct for the industry and are happy with the progress made.

June 1, 2025 is the target date for the code to take effect.

Michael Graydon, CEO of the Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) and chair of the interim board for the Code of Conduct welcomed the news.

“Within a very complex food system, the vision for the Code has always been based on a fully inclusive, voluntary Code, developed by the grocery industry and managed by its stakeholders across the supply chain,” Graydon says.

Earlier this year, a House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, studying the issue of food inflation, warned that if the industry couldn’t agree to voluntary code of conduct measures, it would recommend mandating one by law.

Loblaw has recently faced PR issues dogging the company, with a May boycott and an anti-Loblaw subreddit now boasting more than 80,000 members. Among other issues with the company, the boycott called for Loblaw to sign the code.

The last two major holdouts to the code in Canada are Walmart and Costco.