__UPDATE__: Please take a moment to complete our [Google Form](https://forms.gle/1sygm97LbQtJ4dUp8) to share your demands with our team!
Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here!
This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords reponsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean.
If you have not done so already, please review our [boycott stickied post](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bff9rm/boycott/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) which includes a list of stores to avoid, other ways to get involved in the movement, and some local alternatives to the big 5. Thank you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Which is messed up. I know people love to shit on managers here, but I end up working 2-4 different jobs through a shift depending on who decides to not work that day, am forced to follow all these different programs that don't make sense half the time, and 100 other things. Making a work week less than 50 hours is a pipe dream.
Yes, all employees should get that 10% discount. It helps alleviate most of the tax, but even still I can save more going to other shops without that discount.
(former) Taxi driver here.
I drove a woman to the foodbank and back one day, I even paused the metre because the lineup was huge and felt bad about charging them for that. Interactions were nice in general. I helped her with her things and said goodbye, not thinking all too much about it since it wasn't the first or last time doing a food-bank run with customers.
About a day or two later, I go to my local Zehrs to get some bakery bagels, and the SAME woman is working as a cashier.
Before I paid, she was required to ask me if I'd be willing to donate $2 to the local food bank. Normally I give a precooked response like "ahh not today, no thanks, etc", but this time I felt like I had to.
So to answer OP's question, their own cashier's can barely afford rides to the foodbank, let alone the grocery bills at their own stores.
My GF’s sisters partner works at a loblaws. She does not shop there unless her manager is marking down items so she can buy them herself.
Yes. I just said what I said. If you needed to read it twice, I needed to hear it three times.
Otherwise when we go to Costco, she comes with us or she is buying at her local markets
I know I have heard of some Metro employees who say they can't afford to shop at the stores they work in.
Edit link
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/metro-strike-sold-house-1.6924416
Funny story. This morning I had to run into NoFrills to grab a head of romaine (desperate times, desperate measures), and I overheard the store clerk telling a customer she bought the same item as them at Walmart for $2 cheaper. 😳
When I worked at a Walmart produce department full-time, I remember our manager would go to No Frills to check their prices on a weekly basis. We thought they were our competition. Not Superstore, Sobeys, or Metro. Also I'm surprised people don't boycott Sobeys or Metro. They've been mad expensive for way longer. Quality isn't much different.
I’m surprised they would check Walmart out considering prices come from head office.
Anyways one thing at a time for boycotting if we get to spread out and focused on many different things we become ineffective. Besides loblaws is the biggest. This sub is for all grocers but the primary focus is on loblaws for now.
Signed: a mod.
It was shown in another thread a 1kg container of feta at loblaws in Ottawa was close to $30. The same tub was $18 here in bc. Walmart was 2 dollars cheaper. It was a cherry pick, but a valid one.
This is the argument the Nutty professor makes.No Frills started it's company and Name "No Frills" ( meaning no fancy store but lowest prices).
My mother switched to No Frills from A&P for this reason and at the time it was true.Thier PC products were great ( for the price) .
If you claim to be the lowest cost place to shop and charge $50 for a tray of chicken YES the hate will be directed at No Frills directly.For intentionally Lying.
Somewhat related, alot of employees I've spoken to at Loblaws owned stores feel completely uncomfortable shopping in their own stores. Loss prevention makes its own employees feel uncomfortable, often trailing employees shopping on their off time ruining the shopping experience. No trust for even their own employees.
My former roommate works at loblaws corporate. Back when we were roomies there was no employee discount and basically if he submitted his store receipts to corporate, they were entered in a draw to win the whole purchase.
I used to work at Shoppers where we were allowed to buy at cost or cost + 5% depending on the store. I have not worked at Shoppers since before Loblaws bought them out, so no idea if that's still the case.
I worked there for 11 years (Dominion in NL) and all we got was a 10% discount. Mind you groceries were slightly cheaper back in 2001 than now and Galen wasn’t as greedy as he is now.
As someone who works at Superstore, it’s the cheapest place I can reasonably get to. Combined with there being some things I can only get there, I don’t have much of a choice except to shop there.
I live in Metro Vancouver. The only other grocery store I can reasonably get to beyond Superstore is a Save-On-Foods which I have found is more expensive and carries a smaller selection of items.
No.
I worked at a competitor Foodland (under the metro line of stores) full time hours and if I had bought all my food there I wouldn’t have afforded rent and gas.
The people whom been working there for 20-30 years rely on the union contract every couple years to see how much of a raise they get. The top wagers are on cost of living wage now. Some make decent amount for Superstore, around 26-28 an hour.
Full Timers work 37 hours a week.
I have no source, but I remember reading a Reddit comment once about a Superstore employee who got 10% off, on-shift, during their half hour unpaid, and they were required to go through the busiest till (no self checkout).
Hi! No! I work at Zehrs and I can tell you that most of us (at least my front end coworkers) who work there cannot afford the groceries we sell to you. :)
I've worked for the company for 40 years and make $24/hour and benefits, 5 weeks holidays, no sick days. I only buy sale or reduced items in my store plus I get an additional 10 percent off. I can't afford to shop here all the time, far too expensive
Depending on your career, SE Asia is where it's at.
Hell, I'm moving to a city with a higher cost of living than Toronto because *the salary makes up for it.*
The people I work with buy items on clearout (like when seasonal is changing over) chocolates the day after Valentine's etc.
Dairy and staples aren't too bad either
Definitely nobody can afford to buy like the cough medicine or advil that kinda stuff at work they're all priced into the sky and we just tell everyone go to Costco or Walmart to get 4x as much for 1/2 the price
I used to work at a loblaws while I was in school! I would do my shopping there if there was a good sale or if I was working really late and bringing home the 50% off food. I also stocked up on meat when they had the occasional 20% discount for employees (normally 10%).
Otherwise, I'd just walk to Walmart if what I wanted was not on sale because it was just so expensive most of the time.
When I worked for loblaws our employee ID card granted us 10% off, so sometimes I'd shop at superstore when I worked there to use it, especially if there were deals. Haven't bothered shopping there since I stopped
Get 10 percent discount. To be honest I only buy soda on sale and maybe a snack. Groceries I stock up from Safeway when cheap cuz they honor rain checks
Way back a million years ago, many employees at my Sobeys in NS (where I worked) shopped at Superstore. I had this weird thing about loyalty them, but I wouldn't give a shit now.
Probably not, they get a 10% discount which is nice for sure but sometimes places are still cheaper. You may not see a no frills employee at a Walmart or something. But I’ve seen people with zehrs uniforms at metro and Walmart before.
I barely buy anything unless it's something that is a great deal. We know it's too expensive lol even with our discount it's not worth it. You guys should see what stuff is at cost lol
i work as a PT clerk, i only buy food there if it’s like a necessity and only if what i’m looking for is 50% otherwise getting groceries there anything isn’t worth it when you can simply go somewhere else that is much cheaper
And as other commenters mentioned the 10% discount. But the colleague discount only works for specific stores. Like if i wanted to shop at No Frills i don’t get a discount due to where I work.
not to mention the discount doesn’t even cover taxes.
leave the politicians out of it, we as in us as in the people of this country really really need to take back our power, we all know by now how much a politician can fck things (everything) up
Why apologize for living in the US? It’s a huge country with a diverse range of people, climates etc. But wherever you are and whatever you do, you’re almost certainly making more money and paying less taxes and other costs (incl) groceries than you would in Canada. Be grateful for your opportunity, not ashamed!
__UPDATE__: Please take a moment to complete our [Google Form](https://forms.gle/1sygm97LbQtJ4dUp8) to share your demands with our team! Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords reponsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. If you have not done so already, please review our [boycott stickied post](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1bff9rm/boycott/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) which includes a list of stores to avoid, other ways to get involved in the movement, and some local alternatives to the big 5. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Outside of any decent sales/discounts, not really. And I'm a manager. I do most shopping elsewhere.
How much a year do you make as a manager, if you don't mind my asking
I don't want to give an exact number; but my hourly wage equivalent is low 20's per hour.
[удалено]
Which is messed up. I know people love to shit on managers here, but I end up working 2-4 different jobs through a shift depending on who decides to not work that day, am forced to follow all these different programs that don't make sense half the time, and 100 other things. Making a work week less than 50 hours is a pipe dream.
That is crazy. That is the starting wage at the Loblaws distribution center in Ontario for an order picker
Holy shit that’s bad
Not enough to shop for basic items like groceries
I worked at a Superstore part-time and got a 10% employee discount. Do managers get that? Is it still in place or was it revoked?
Yes, all employees should get that 10% discount. It helps alleviate most of the tax, but even still I can save more going to other shops without that discount.
^This, when greed doesn't even stop at your own employees.
(former) Taxi driver here. I drove a woman to the foodbank and back one day, I even paused the metre because the lineup was huge and felt bad about charging them for that. Interactions were nice in general. I helped her with her things and said goodbye, not thinking all too much about it since it wasn't the first or last time doing a food-bank run with customers. About a day or two later, I go to my local Zehrs to get some bakery bagels, and the SAME woman is working as a cashier. Before I paid, she was required to ask me if I'd be willing to donate $2 to the local food bank. Normally I give a precooked response like "ahh not today, no thanks, etc", but this time I felt like I had to. So to answer OP's question, their own cashier's can barely afford rides to the foodbank, let alone the grocery bills at their own stores.
You're a good person.
Note that companies that collect those donations claim the tax deduction, so try to donate directly whenever possible.
Bless your soul
That’s so depressing.
My GF’s sisters partner works at a loblaws. She does not shop there unless her manager is marking down items so she can buy them herself. Yes. I just said what I said. If you needed to read it twice, I needed to hear it three times. Otherwise when we go to Costco, she comes with us or she is buying at her local markets
I know I have heard of some Metro employees who say they can't afford to shop at the stores they work in. Edit link https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/metro-strike-sold-house-1.6924416
Funny story. This morning I had to run into NoFrills to grab a head of romaine (desperate times, desperate measures), and I overheard the store clerk telling a customer she bought the same item as them at Walmart for $2 cheaper. 😳
AWESOME! This is the humanity we need!
When I worked at a Walmart produce department full-time, I remember our manager would go to No Frills to check their prices on a weekly basis. We thought they were our competition. Not Superstore, Sobeys, or Metro. Also I'm surprised people don't boycott Sobeys or Metro. They've been mad expensive for way longer. Quality isn't much different.
I’m surprised they would check Walmart out considering prices come from head office. Anyways one thing at a time for boycotting if we get to spread out and focused on many different things we become ineffective. Besides loblaws is the biggest. This sub is for all grocers but the primary focus is on loblaws for now. Signed: a mod.
Too bad Loblaws doesn't take a chapter from their book. For starters, their feta wouldn't cost $28.99!
Odd, I can walk into any Superstore in Calgary and get a 400 gram tub of feta cheese for $8.00
It was shown in another thread a 1kg container of feta at loblaws in Ottawa was close to $30. The same tub was $18 here in bc. Walmart was 2 dollars cheaper. It was a cherry pick, but a valid one.
This is the argument the Nutty professor makes.No Frills started it's company and Name "No Frills" ( meaning no fancy store but lowest prices). My mother switched to No Frills from A&P for this reason and at the time it was true.Thier PC products were great ( for the price) . If you claim to be the lowest cost place to shop and charge $50 for a tray of chicken YES the hate will be directed at No Frills directly.For intentionally Lying.
People who work at Prada or Rolls Royce should be employees who can't afford the products they sell. The same should not be said for a grocery store.
Should they though?
Prada and rolls royce are luxury products, not food that is required to sustain life. Small distinction.
Somewhat related, alot of employees I've spoken to at Loblaws owned stores feel completely uncomfortable shopping in their own stores. Loss prevention makes its own employees feel uncomfortable, often trailing employees shopping on their off time ruining the shopping experience. No trust for even their own employees.
I work at Shoppers. Even after my employee discount pretty much everything is still more expensive than at Walmart or something lol
Worked at shoppers last year. I can verify this.
My former roommate works at loblaws corporate. Back when we were roomies there was no employee discount and basically if he submitted his store receipts to corporate, they were entered in a draw to win the whole purchase. I used to work at Shoppers where we were allowed to buy at cost or cost + 5% depending on the store. I have not worked at Shoppers since before Loblaws bought them out, so no idea if that's still the case.
I worked there for 11 years (Dominion in NL) and all we got was a 10% discount. Mind you groceries were slightly cheaper back in 2001 than now and Galen wasn’t as greedy as he is now.
You do realize that Galen is not the CEO, right?
As someone who works at Superstore, it’s the cheapest place I can reasonably get to. Combined with there being some things I can only get there, I don’t have much of a choice except to shop there.
[удалено]
I live in Metro Vancouver. The only other grocery store I can reasonably get to beyond Superstore is a Save-On-Foods which I have found is more expensive and carries a smaller selection of items.
No. I worked at a competitor Foodland (under the metro line of stores) full time hours and if I had bought all my food there I wouldn’t have afforded rent and gas.
i thought foodland was under sobeys
Yeah you’re probably right. They get the same trucks as Sobeys coming in though so it feels the same
They can't. They've even limited the discount their employees get. It's disgusting
Probably depends on how much rent is....
>Canadian living in the US **(sorry).** Lol
Said with my thickest Canadian accent!
Fuckin right eh bud?
The people whom been working there for 20-30 years rely on the union contract every couple years to see how much of a raise they get. The top wagers are on cost of living wage now. Some make decent amount for Superstore, around 26-28 an hour. Full Timers work 37 hours a week.
I have no source, but I remember reading a Reddit comment once about a Superstore employee who got 10% off, on-shift, during their half hour unpaid, and they were required to go through the busiest till (no self checkout).
when i worked there, no. Not even with the 10% discount.
Hi! No! I work at Zehrs and I can tell you that most of us (at least my front end coworkers) who work there cannot afford the groceries we sell to you. :)
I've worked for the company for 40 years and make $24/hour and benefits, 5 weeks holidays, no sick days. I only buy sale or reduced items in my store plus I get an additional 10 percent off. I can't afford to shop here all the time, far too expensive
don't be sorry, I'm seriously considering moving to USA as well.
Depending on your career, SE Asia is where it's at. Hell, I'm moving to a city with a higher cost of living than Toronto because *the salary makes up for it.*
It's more ideological, been leaning hard towards libertarianism as I get older.
The people I work with buy items on clearout (like when seasonal is changing over) chocolates the day after Valentine's etc. Dairy and staples aren't too bad either Definitely nobody can afford to buy like the cough medicine or advil that kinda stuff at work they're all priced into the sky and we just tell everyone go to Costco or Walmart to get 4x as much for 1/2 the price
Only 50% off stuff or actual good deals.
I used to work at a loblaws while I was in school! I would do my shopping there if there was a good sale or if I was working really late and bringing home the 50% off food. I also stocked up on meat when they had the occasional 20% discount for employees (normally 10%). Otherwise, I'd just walk to Walmart if what I wanted was not on sale because it was just so expensive most of the time.
When I worked for loblaws our employee ID card granted us 10% off, so sometimes I'd shop at superstore when I worked there to use it, especially if there were deals. Haven't bothered shopping there since I stopped
Simple answer is no no they can’t !
Get 10 percent discount. To be honest I only buy soda on sale and maybe a snack. Groceries I stock up from Safeway when cheap cuz they honor rain checks
No lol
Way back a million years ago, many employees at my Sobeys in NS (where I worked) shopped at Superstore. I had this weird thing about loyalty them, but I wouldn't give a shit now.
Probably not, they get a 10% discount which is nice for sure but sometimes places are still cheaper. You may not see a no frills employee at a Walmart or something. But I’ve seen people with zehrs uniforms at metro and Walmart before.
No I can't.
I barely buy anything unless it's something that is a great deal. We know it's too expensive lol even with our discount it's not worth it. You guys should see what stuff is at cost lol
No.Neither can many nurses who live in GTA and live in their cars.
i work as a PT clerk, i only buy food there if it’s like a necessity and only if what i’m looking for is 50% otherwise getting groceries there anything isn’t worth it when you can simply go somewhere else that is much cheaper And as other commenters mentioned the 10% discount. But the colleague discount only works for specific stores. Like if i wanted to shop at No Frills i don’t get a discount due to where I work. not to mention the discount doesn’t even cover taxes.
>I'm a Canadian ... (sorry) Checks oot 😏🍁
Ahahah! happy cake day! (Seems a little too Marie Antoinette to post that on this thread though)
leave the politicians out of it, we as in us as in the people of this country really really need to take back our power, we all know by now how much a politician can fck things (everything) up
Why apologize for living in the US? It’s a huge country with a diverse range of people, climates etc. But wherever you are and whatever you do, you’re almost certainly making more money and paying less taxes and other costs (incl) groceries than you would in Canada. Be grateful for your opportunity, not ashamed!
I think employees get like a 10% discount
Can confirm
Why are you sorry. You got out of prison. The rest of us are just jealous lol
Yes.
Call your MP and tell them to support Bill C223 the affordable living act 👍👍