Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - February 19, 2025 - The North West Company (NWC), a Winnipeg-based grocery and retail company, has been accused of misusing federal subsidies to reduce grocery prices in northern communities.

The lawsuit claims that NWC kept portions of funding it received from the federal Nutrition North Canada program, which was launched in 2011 to make perishable and nutritious foods more accessible and affordable.

Between 2018 and 2021, NWC received over $163 million in subsidies from the program, but did not appropriately pass those savings on to consumers.

The lawsuit calls for NWC to return "misappropriated" federal funding to its intended beneficiaries. The lawsuit also claims that grocery prices were not appropriately reduced, leading to poorer health outcomes in northern communities, including increased rates of malnutrition, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and suicidal ideation.

NWC has denied the allegations and claims that the Nutrition North program partially offsets costs in the north.