Maple Washing Of Food Labels: New Canadian Scrutiny

“Maple Washing” of product labelling and advertising is attracting greater scrutiny from Canadian regulators and the media. As will be apparent to anyone who follows Canadian news, there has been a lot of public focus since September of 2025 on instances of incorrectly labelling foods as “made in” or “product of” Canada, when they are not of Canadian origin. The media coined the term “Maple Washing” for this phenomenon. The concern has mostly been about foods, but the sobriquet is used for other products as well.

In the wake of apparent threats by the current U.S. president to annex Canada, and real tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canada, many Canadians have been trying to “buy Canadian” on an everyday basis. This is challenging because the Canadian food supply is closely integrated with that of the U.S. under CUSMA. It is also a function of practicality; no fruit grows in most of Canada during the winter – but Canadians are used to consuming it anyway.

Unlike the U.S., Canada does not have a comprehensive Country of Origin Labelling (COO) law for food (and beverages).^[1] Successive federal governments have discussed introducing such a law, but it has never happened. For most food products, this means that the only restrictions are that a product must be labelled in such a way that any origin claims are not false or misleading, under both the Federal Food and Drugs Act and the more recent Safe Foods for Canadians Act. (Both laws use the same exact language.)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is an independent agency reporting to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. (However, the Minister of Health, through Health Canada, also has a role as it is responsible for policies and standards “relating to the safety and nutritional quality” of food.) The CFIA is responsible for enforcing the existing laws.

In the past year, since the concern about U.S. actions has arisen, a number of prominent Canadian companies in the food space have been given administrative fines for “Maple Washing.” Examples include:  a Fortino’s in Toronto received a $10,000 fine; a Loblaws Superstore also in Toronto (which displayed U.S.-made President's Choice broccoli slaw with maple leaf advertising decals and "product of Canada”) was fined $10,000; a fine of $10,000 was assessed in September 2025 against Oxford Frozen Foods of Nova Scotia for labelling imported (from the U.S.) blueberries as product of Canada (this was not made public until March of 2026); and unknown stores in Calgary and Edmonton were also fined. Total fines to this point total only $47,000.

Thus far, the CFIA’s actions appear to have been limited to assessing “Administrative Monetary Penalties;” we are not aware of any actual proceedings under the Food and Drugs Act or the Safe Foods for Canadians Act. The maximum administrative monetary penalty is $15,000.

Food producers and retailers need to be aware of the overarching need to avoid any representations, on the label or otherwise, that could be perceived as false or misleading. Additional guidance for food labelling (but not for point of sale signage) can be found in the CFIA’s “Country of Origin for Food Labels” guidance webpage. This only represents the CFIA’s guidance and is not law; however, it sets out some useful guidance, which might be considered a safe harbour provision.

If you have any questions regarding COO labelling for foods or other products, reach out to our regulatory team, Gordon Jepson (gjepson@dww.com) or Claire Bettio (cbettio@dww.com).

Summary By: Gordon S. Jepson