To:  The leadership of Canada’s major grocery retailers, including:  

- Loblaw Companies Ltd. (Loblaws, No Frills, Superstore, etc.)  - Empire Company Ltd. (Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo, Farm Boy, etc.)  
- Metro Inc. (Metro, Food Basics, etc.)  
- Walmart Canada  
- Costco Wholesale Canada  

We, the undersigned shoppers across Canada, demand that cashiers once again bag our groceries as the standard service at checkout.

In recent years — accelerated by the 2022 single-use plastic bag ban and efforts to cut labour costs — most major Canadian grocery chains have shifted to “self-bagging” or “bag-your-own.” Cashiers now routinely place items on the conveyor belt and expect customers to pack them while the next shopper’s order piles up behind. What was once a basic courtesy has become rare, inconsistent, or non-existent in many stores.

This change has created real hardship for millions of Canadians:

- Seniors and people with disabilities or limited mobility struggle to bag heavy or bulky items quickly.  
- Parents shopping with young children are forced to juggle kids, carts, and packing under time pressure.  
- Anyone with injuries, arthritis, or simply a large order ends up stressed and rushed at the checkout.  
- Reusable bags (now the norm) are often awkward, dirty, or numerous, making self-bagging even more cumbersome.  
- The experience feels disrespectful after customers already face high grocery prices.

Many of us remember when courteous bagging was the standard — cold items together, fragile items protected, heavy items at the bottom. That small act of service made shopping feel human. Its disappearance adds unnecessary stress to an already expensive and time-consuming errand.

We are not asking for free plastic bags or slower lines. We are simply asking that cashiers be trained and expected to proactively offer to bag groceries for every customer — exactly as they did for decades — unless the customer clearly says “I’ll bag them myself.”

**Our specific requests:**

1. Make cashier-assisted bagging the default service in all non-express lanes.  
2. Train and instruct every cashier to ask “Would you like me to bag these for you?” or begin bagging automatically.  
3. Apply this policy consistently across all stores in every province and territory.  
4. Implement these changes within six months and communicate them clearly to customers.

Better service should not be a luxury. With the Grocery Code of Conduct now in effect (2026), we expect retailers to compete on genuine customer care, not just price.

By signing this petition, we send a clear message: We want our groceries bagged again.

#GroceryService #BagOurGroceries #CanadianShoppers #Loblaws #Sobeys #WalmartCanada