According to the Bank of Canada, there is no evidence to support accusations of price gouging by retailers, grocers, and wholesalers who are allegedly taking advantage of inflated supply-chain costs. In a recent report titled “Markups And Inflation During The Covid-19 Pandemic,” the bank stated that the growth in markups of consumer-oriented firms has been close to zero between 2020 and 2022. The bank also noted that any price increases are in line with the increased costs along the supply chain. The Bank of Canada attributed most price spikes to the rising costs of global freight, energy, labor, and commercial services. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has accused the CEOs of large grocery chains of increasing prices and profit margins under the pretext of inflationary pressures, referring to it as “greedflation” and calling for a new tax on excess profits. A House of Commons committee has recommended introducing a windfall profits tax on large corporations if the federal Competition Bureau finds evidence of excessive profit margins. Loblaw president Galen Weston and Empire CEO Michael Medline have denied exploiting inflation to increase their companies’ profit margins, emphasizing that not raising retail prices would lead to the disappearance of their companies. The Parliamentary Budget Officer, Yves Giroux, also concluded similarly to the Bank of Canada, stating that price increases are a result of supply and demand dynamics rather than opportunistic behavior. Giroux mentioned that it is challenging to make accusations without considering specific industries or businesses.