CanadaPolitics

Even if margins are low, government run grocery stores can still bring down costs by other means. For example if you use land owned by the federal/provincial/municipal government then you don't need to worry about rent, which would bring down costs.

How are the margins on their real estate and the other businesses they own in the value chain? These aren't simple grocers. They also have majority ownership stakes in the REITs their grocery stores are paying rent to and they have pharmacy and financial services businesses wrapped up in there too. So, the grocery store itself may be making 2%-5%, but they're making 60%-70% as landlords to their grocery, another 10% for the pharmacy, and probably 30%-40% on financial services.

There are policy proposals for how government could get involved that are estimated potentially offer up to 25% savings for customers.

All the benefits could be passed on to the consumer, leading to reductions of between approximately 25 and 30 per cent in consumer prices in urban areas, and approximately 45 per cent for northern communities (where groceries currently cost double or triple southern prices). A family could save between $2,500-10,000 annually, depending on where they live.