The Hidden Cost of Trade Tensions: How Canadian Gluten-Free Consumers Responded to 2025 Canada-U.S. Trade Tensions
September 24, 2026
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Written by: Melissa Secord, National Executive Director, September 18, 2026
For most Canadians, choosing to buy local over imported is a preference. For people living with celiac disease, switching brands is not always that simple. When health depends on maintaining a strict gluten-free diet and safe options are already limited, higher prices or changes in availability can create real barriers.
A survey conducted by researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University and Harper Adams University, in partnership with Celiac Canada, asked 2,485 Canadian gluten-free consumers about perceived price increases in gluten-free products imported from the U.S. and related purchasing changes. The results show a community adapting its purchasing behaviour during a period of trade tension.
When asked whether they had noticed an increase in the prices of gluten-free products imported from the U.S., the responses were telling:
40% said yes · 50% weren’t sure · Only 10% said no
Only one in ten respondents said they had NOT noticed any increase.
When we asked about specific behavioural changes:
Taken together, these findings point to an information gap. While 57% said they are buying more Canadian-made gluten-free products, about one-third were unsure whether the products they buy are Canadian or imported.
One of the most interesting findings from the analysis is that there are two quite different reasons people are changing their buying habits, and that these reasons affect different groups.
People who stop buying U.S. brands because of price increases were also more likely to report financial pressure, including tighter food budgets, reduced food quality and quantity, and increased price-sensitive shopping behaviours. The pattern shows a strong association between price-driven switching and financial strain, although the survey did not ask respondents to identify a single underlying motivation.
But the pattern is different for protest-driven boycotting. Respondents who stopped buying U.S. brands as a form of protest did not show greater financial pressure on several indicators and, on some measures, reported less financial strain than other respondents. This behaviour also rises dramatically with age: respondents aged 65 and over were much more likely to boycott U.S. products than those under 35, and this age difference was statistically significant. The survey therefore supports a distinction between price-driven and protest-driven purchasing behaviour, but it does not directly measure the ideological, patriotic, or other values-based motivations behind protest purchasing.
This survey tells us three important things.
First, the gluten-free market is not immune to trade pressures. Respondents reported both perceived price increases on U.S. gluten-free products and changes in purchasing behaviour, and those already facing financial pressure were more likely to report price-driven switching.
Second, there is strong interest in Canadian-made gluten-free products. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they are now buying more Canadian-made gluten-free products. This is an opportunity for Canadian manufacturers, and clearer origin information, including accurate Product of Canada and Made in Canada claims, could help consumers understand what they are buying.
Third, the gluten-free community needs to be part of the conversation about trade policy. For people with celiac disease, a strict lifelong gluten-free diet is the only current treatment, so the affordability and availability of safe food matter when trade decisions affect the food market.
Trade context: In 2025, the United States imposed tariffs on Canadian exports and Canada responded with counter-tariffs on selected U.S. imports, including some food products. Most of the Canadian counter-tariffs introduced in March 2025 were removed on September 1, 2025. The survey measures respondents’ reported perceptions and purchasing behaviour; it does not establish that a particular tariff caused a particular retail price change.
About the research: These findings come from the Consumer Perceptions of Gluten-Free Products in Canada survey (2025), a bilingual study of 2,485 respondents conducted in collaboration between Toronto Metropolitan University, Harper Adams University (UK), and Celiac Canada.
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