Through its website and daily newsletters, The Peak (a ZoomerMedia property) offers Canadians the news they need to understand business, tech, and other must-know stories.
In this dispatch, The Peak looks at Canada’s new pharmacare bill, the loonie’s autumn comeback against the U.S. dollar and why consumers are opting for store brands over brand names at the grocery checkout.
Canada’s New Pharmacare Bill Gets the Green Light
Next time you get a pill, you might not have to foot the bill.
What happened: The newly passed Pharmacare Act will assure 100 per cent coverage for the costs of diabetes meds (like insulin) and contraceptive care (like pills and IUDs) for people without drug coverage. The program will also cover out-of-pocket costs for those with plans.
Why it matters: The act could bring meaningful financial aid to large swaths of the country. Around 3.7 million Canadians suffer from diabetes, spending as much as $1,700 annually. Meanwhile, studies have found cost is a common barrier to accessing effective birth control.
However, critics of the program have pointed to its vague language and the lack of coverage of some drugs, including popular semaglutide diabetes meds like Ozempic.
Big picture: The bill also establishes a framework for any future national pharmacare program that could cover more types of meds. Currently, Canada is the only country with a universal healthcare system that doesn’t also have nationalized pharmacare. Go figure.
What’s next: The feds will have to work out individual deals to launch the program in each province and territory, a process it hopes to complete by next spring. B.C. has already signed an agreement to launch it, but Alberta and Québec have threatened to opt out. —Quinn Henderson
The Loonie Has Been Down, But Not Out
If a recent trip to the U.S. hurt your wallet because of the value of the loonie, we’re here to tell you that things are looking up. Earlier this year, the loonie wasn’t doing too hot against the U.S. dollar, in part because Canada was cutting interest rates while the U.S. held steady. This made U.S. investments more attractive, as lower rates in Canada meant lower returns for some investments, which weakened demand for the loonie. But here’s the thing: the loonie wasn’t doing that bad, relatively speaking. It’s just that the U.S. dollar was really strong — between May 2021 and June 2024 the greenback strengthened by almost 16 per cent against a basket of major currencies. Now, as the U.S. starts its own rate-cutting cycle, the greenback is starting to slip, and the loonie is catching up, rallying 3.3 per cent from a near two-year low exchange rate in August. Hopefully you have enough PTO left to take a quick trip down south this fall to enjoy (slightly) cheaper goods. —Meera Raman
Private-Label Groceries Are Getting an Image Reset
Once the underdog of the grocery aisle, private-label brands are taking over Canadian pantries.Even as inflation subsides, shoppers are still opting for store brands to get the best bang for their buck, according to a new report from CoBank. Over the past few years, many Canadians bought brands like Metro’s Irresistibles or Loblaw’s No Name to save money, despite the common belief that they’re lower quality than name brands. But after buying these brands out of necessity, shoppers started to realize store brands could actually hold their own against name brands in terms of quality and are up to 20 per cent cheaper. Experts believe this competition might drive down the prices of name-brand products and expand discount options. Major grocery stores are already hopping on board, pouring resources into discount offerings, with Loblaw piloting a new store dedicated entirely to its No Name line, and Empire, which owns Sobeys and Farm Boy, opening 52 new discount FreshCo stores in the past six years. —MR
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