From Shortages to a Municipal Storefront? Ottawa Debates City-Run Grocery Stores

Ottawa is seriously discussing an idea that, to some, sounds like a thoughtful response to food insecurity, but to others feels like a troubling step backward. City Councillor Marty Carr has introduced a proposal to develop a Municipal Food Strategy, and among the possible measures is the study of municipally operated grocery stores. Under the motion, city staff are to report back to council by the end of the second quarter of 2027 on the feasibility of such a strategy. In other words, this is not yet about opening stores immediately, but about examining the model and the possibility of a pilot project.

The logic of the proposal’s supporters is easy to understand. Food costs remain a serious burden for Canadian families. In Ottawa itself, the situation is also alarming: many households continue to struggle with food insecurity, while the cost of a healthy food basket for a family of four remains extremely high. Supporters argue that non-profit municipal stores with minimal markups could help residents in low-income neighbourhoods and in so-called food deserts, while also easing pressure on food banks and offering an alternative to large grocery chains.

And yet this idea has a weak point that is noted not only by critics, but also by researchers in food policy. Grocery retail operates on very thin margins, and small municipal stores without the purchasing scale of large chains could easily lose out not only to major retailers, but even to private independent shops. Without strong centralized logistics and major buying power, such stores risk becoming expensive, inefficient projects that depend on ongoing subsidies.

This is where many immigrants from the former Soviet Union experience an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu. We know the phrase “state-run store” all too well: limited selection, questionable quality, poor service, and chronic inefficiency. After the pandemic, and then in the wake of tariff wars and broader economic pressure, many small retailers were already barely surviving. Instead of helping small business owners — by lowering costs, easing rent pressures, and supporting local supply chains — the city now risks moving toward the creation of another municipal structure with costly administration and uncertain results.

That makes the idea look especially strange in a city where more targeted tools for improving food access already exist. Ottawa Public Health has long supported initiatives such as Good Food Corner Stores, helping small local shops expand their selection of fresh and basic food items in neighbourhoods where access is limited. To me, that seems like a much more sensible path: not replacing the market with a bureaucratic storefront, but strengthening what already exists at the community level.

Helping people buy food at lower prices is a worthy goal. But a municipal grocery store must not become a polished political symbol that hides the deeper issues underneath: poverty, high rent, weak competition, and the disappearance of small business. Ottawa deserves practical solutions, not a return to models many countries once abandoned because they simply did not work.

By Anna Prikhodko