Ontario Premier Doug Ford flirts with legislating flags on products, slams Campbell’s soup again

While Campbell’s has long embraced the slogan ‘M’m, m’m, good,’ Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the soup giant’s labels are anything but amid ongoing concerns about product manufacturing leaving Canada.

“I still have to get a can of Campbell Soup that’s putting that Canadian flag on that’s not being manufactured here, misleading the people and getting it produced in Camden, New Jersey,” he said during a news conference Thursday morning.

“The can, the label, the stuff inside, and you know what they put? Recipe of Canada. You think the people of Ontario are that dumb? I’m going to call you out and get one of those cans, I’m going to rip that label off, encourage people to buy made-in-Ontario, made-in-Canada soup.”

Ford continued by criticizing Campbell’s again for closing its plant in west-end Toronto in 2018, impacting nearly 400 workers. The company maintains a Canadian office in Mississauga.

“Maybe what you should do is bring back your manufacturing facility that you closed down in Etobicoke and got rid of hundreds of people. But I just can’t stand sneaky companies that do stuff like that,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Ford went after Campbell’s. He previously claimed the labels were tricking Canadians.

CityNews contacted Campbell’s to ask about Ford’s comments. A spokesperson said the company started phasing out ‘designed in Canada’ labels in 2024.

“We are no longer producing cans with that image. There may still be some inventory on shel[ves] with the ‘designed in Canada’ image for a short period of time while products with the new labels are distributed to retailers,” James Regan wrote in a statement.

“Additionally, all of Campbell’s aseptic broth products sold in Canada are made in Canada via our Ontario-based contract manufacturer and feature a maple leaf with the designation ‘prepared in Canada.'”

The comments by Ford were part of an impromptu rant after he was asked by a reporter about $4 billion set aside by the Ontario government in the 2025 budget to support businesses impacted by U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariff regime. The remarks also came a day after the Ontario government announced $1 billion in financing for certain tariff-impacted businesses.

“I get messages every single day I go out there. Companies are hurting, especially the ones that rely on our trade deal going back and forth across the border,” he said.

“Our goal is to onshore every possible product we can until they don’t have to face the tariffs, and it will create more jobs.”

Ford said he wants to speak with the five biggest retailers about the outsourcing of products outside the country, and flirted with the notion of requiring more visible production location displays on labels.

“I heard a story yesterday that you’re going to Thailand, you’re going to China, pulling business away from Ontario workers,” he said.

“If I have to put a Canadian flag and every other flag on every single product and legislate it until the consumer can see that you aren’t pulling the wool over their eyes.”

Meanwhile, the head of Metro grocery stores said during a third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that the buy-Canadian movement is starting to slow.

“It’s decelerating somewhat,” Metro Inc. president and CEO Eric La Flèche told analysts.

“Consumers are still buying more Canadian, so we’re seeing more growth on Canadian product than non-Canadian product, but it has decelerated slightly.”

Earlier this year, trade disputes with the U.S. helped kick off the trend of shoppers favouring Canadian-made products, which pushed many grocers to increase their local offerings and promote domestic and local products with signs on their shelves.

Tariffs from the U.S. and Canada’s own counter-tariffs have continued to lead some food producers to request price increases from grocers, including Metro.

La Flèche said tariffs have pushed prices higher for about 3,000 products.

With files from The Canadian Press