‘I am going to rip that label off:’ Ford slams Campbell’s over branding touting Canadian ties

Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticizes Campbell's for putting labels on some of their soups touting ties to Canada despite manufacturing many products in the U.S.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is once again floating the idea of introducing legislation that would force companies to place a flag of origin on their products as he takes aim at Campbell’s for ‘misleading people’ with some of its soup labels.

Ford brought up the matter during an unrelated news conference in Pickering on Thursday, where he mused about legislation that would make it easier for shoppers to identify which products are made outside of Canada amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S.

“What really bothers me lately and I have to have a chat with all the retailers, the big five, is that I have heard stories that you are outsourcing out of our country when there are great manufacturers here,” he said. “If I have to put a Canadian flag and every other flag on every single product and legislate it until the consumer can see that you are pulling the wool over their eyes (I will), because that is what they are doing.”

Ford has repeatedly called for Ontarians to buy Canadian-made products since the onset of the trade war and has also urged retailers to do their part by helping their customers identify those products.

However, during Thursday’s news conference, the premier suggested that some “sneaky companies” are trying to pass off products made outside of the country as Canadian.

He then singled out Campbell’s, who he said places a label on some of their soups touting their ties to the country despite manufacturing many of their products at a plant in New Jersey.

“I still have to get a can of Campbell’s soup who has put that Canadian flag on but it is not being manufactured here, misleading the people and getting it produced in Camden, New Jersey,” he said.

“The can, the label, the stuff inside... Do you think the people of Ontario are that dumb? I am going to call you out. I am going to get one of those cans, I am going to rip that label off and encourage people to buy made in Ontario, made in Canada soup.”

A spokesperson for Campbell’s tells CTV News that while it does have ‘Designed in Canada’ printed on some of its soup labels, it began phasing out that branding in 2024 and no longer produces cans with that phrase.

The spokesperson said that the phrase was first added to the cans in 2018 when it closed its Toronto plant while opening a corporate headquarters for its Canadian business in Mississauga.

“As part of that transition, we added ‘Designed in Canada’ to our labels to ensure Canadians knew these products would continue to be created by our Canadian team based on Canadian taste preferences, insights and recipes,” the spokesperson said.

“We were one of many companies to use this on labels and the claim is consistent with Competition Bureau guidance. Many of our products include ingredients sourced from Canadian farmers and we offer varieties unique to the Canadian market, even though the product is made in the U.S.”

Campbell’s added that while its soups are now produced in the U.S., all of its broth products sold in Canada are made in Canada via an Ontario-based contract manufacturer and feature a maple leaf with the designation “Prepared in Canada.”

Thursday’s news conference marked the second time in two weeks that Ford has publicly criticized Campbell’s for its labeling.

During a July 31 news conference in Thunder Bay, Ford also brought up the company and said that Ontarians shouldn’t let Campbell’s “hoodwink” them into thinking its soup is Canadian.

“Maybe what you should do is bring back your manufacturing facility that you closed down in Etobicoke and got rid of hundreds of people,” Ford said on Thursday in a remark addressed directly to the soup maker. “I just can’t stand sneaky companies that do stuff like that.”

Ford’s remarks on Thursday come one day after Ontario announced a $1 billion emergency loan program for businesses in tariff-hit industries.

Speaking with reporters, Ford said that many companies in Ontario are “hurting” as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and vowed to continue working to “onshore every possible product we can” so that more goods are produced domestically.

“Every single persons job as far as I am concerned is to find products and onshore them,” he said.