Canadian Supermarket Scorecard 2022

EIA scored the biggest Canadian supermarket chains on their actions to reduce emissions of climate super pollutant hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Each company is scored on actions in three categories of technology adoption, refrigerant management, and policy & commitments. For more information on the methodology, visit our scorecard FAQ page.

Canadian food retailers have taken steps to reduce HFC emissions, but still have ample room for improvement. Of the five largest food retailers in Canada we reviewed – Costco, Loblaws, Metro Inc., Sobeys, and Walmart – none received a passing grade.

Sector Summary

Technology adoption covers the number of new or retrofitted stores that companies have with lower impact cooling systems. All of the above companies have some stores using only refrigerants with ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) meaning <10 (compared to HFCs which have GWPs in the thousands). Based on public reporting, Sobeys has the highest number of these stores making up nearly 9% of its total locations, followed by Metro with 4-7%, Loblaws with roughly 2.5%, Costco with 1-3% of its stores, and finally Walmart with less than 1% of its stores. All except Costco have public information on ‘hybrid’ stores, which employ a mix of ultra-low GWP refrigerants and HFCs, with Loblaws reporting the highest by using these “secondary loop systems” at 10% of its total stores.

Across the Canadian grocery store sector, emissions from refrigerant leaks are estimated to be the equivalent of burning over 27 billion pounds of coal each year. Addressing these leaks is crucial to curbing emissions, but Sobeys is the only listed company that publicly reports its annual average refrigerant leak rate. EIA encourages all companies to publicly report leak rates, as well as set targets to reduce those rates over time through improving leak detection and repair.

Canada ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the treaty to phase down the production and use of HFCs, and its new regulations to meet these obligations went into force in 2019. Given this phase down will inevitably result in supply shortages and high prices of HFCs, it also makes business-sense for companies to swiftly adopt HFC-free cooling across operations.

While all the listed companies have commitments to increase adoption of climate-friendly refrigerants, only three (Costco, Sobeys, and Walmart) have attached timelines to transition away from using HFCs.

Call to Action

Given the significant global warming impact of HFCs, EIA is calling for all Canadian supermarkets to:

1. Develop a strategy to fully phase out all HFCs in refrigeration by 2030. 

2. Immediately use only HFC-free refrigeration in all new builds and major retrofits.

3. Reduce corporate average refrigerant leak rates of HFCs to below 10% and publish progress towards this goal.

4. Make public commitments or goals to reduce HFC use and emissions and proactively engage with stakeholders in industry and policy settings. 

5. Reduce the overall climate footprint of their cooling including through energy efficiency measures and easy-but-impactful steps like adding doors or night shades to open cases, upgrading to LED lighting, and reducing leaks.

6. Enhance transparency by regularly publishing information quantifying current refrigerant emissions, all actions taken to adopt technology, reduce leaks, increase efficiency, as well as stating measurable future commitments to reduce use and emissions.

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