To lower grocery prices, Canada must invest in supply chains
Prime Minister Mark Carney recently announced the Canada Grocery and Essentials Benefit, a direct payment for low-income Canadians that will replace the GST credit. While it should improve the purchasing power of those who need it most, it won’t lower grocery prices. “To lower the grocery bills, we need to improve our food supply chains in Canada,” says Yu Ma, a Professor of Marketing at McGill Desautels.
Cost of living crunch driving growth in ultra-discount grocers
The price of groceries is going up, and it’s fuelling demand for discount grocers. At stores like the ultra-discount chain Liquidation Marie, prices can be as much as 50% lower than they are at big box supermarkets. The Quebec chain doubled its number of locations last year and is planning for a similar rate of growth in 2026.
Black Friday and Boxing Day sales have become a months-long discount season
Black Friday and Boxing Day are marketed as single‑day events with dramatic price drops, yet the reality is that these sales now stretch well beyond one day. These events have slowly transformed from a one-day bargain bonanza into a long season of discounted prices.
Monopolistic ticket selling and a lack of reseller regulation is pushing up ticket prices
Concertgoers are increasingly facing a seemingly impossible battle for tickets, often losing out to resellers who quickly inflate prices. Marketing and analytics professor Vivek Astvansh argues this stems from a structural failure making live entertainment unaffordable for the average fan. Astvansh attributes the sharp price increase to three factors: demand significantly outpacing supply; the ticketing mark
Nine McGill Desautels researchers named to Stanford-Elsevier top researchers list
Each year, the world’s most influential researchers are recognized in the Stanford-Elsevier Top 2% Scientists lists. The list ranks researchers from around the world, based on the impacts of their citations, their h-index, and other bibliometric indicators. In 2025, nine McGill Desautels researchers earned the honour: Yolande E.
Money lessons from Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens still ring true today
Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens is a riches to rags story. Its wealthy title character squanders his money on opportunistic ‘friends’ and grows jaded with the world.
Hamid Etemad earns global recognition
Hamid Etemad has been named a 2024 Top Scholar by Scholar GPS. Over a long and distinguished career, the Associate Professor of Marketing has been recognized for his excellence in teaching and research, Scholar GPS recognized Etemad as being in the top 0.5% of scholars in his field. Etemad’s research has probed the role of technology in business and its impact in emerging market economies.
Reparative consumption: The role of racial identity and white guilt in consumer preferences
Authors: Rishad Habib, Ekin Ok, Karl Aquino, Siddhanth Mookerjee and Yann Cornil
Nearly half of most recent MBA cohort are Quebec residents - but the program retains its international outlook
Desautels has one of the country’s top MBA programs, and its students come from all over the world. But nearly half of this year’s cohort are Quebec residents. “This allows us to offer an experience tailored to the Quebec market, all while keeping the program’s international perspective,” says Prof. Demetrios Vakratsas, the program’s academic director.
Got(oat) milk? Neighbourhood café can’t give it away for free, but they can be transparent about the costs
At Café Origine on Sherbrooke Street, oat milk costs extra—and there’s a reason for that. Non-dairy milk substitutes like oat milk cost more than cow’s milk does. Some large chains like Starbucks have stopped charging extra for milk substitutes, but independent cafes can struggle to absorb the costs.
For many restaurant diners, GST Holiday won’t amount to much
With inflation pinching household budgets, the Government of Canada has introduced a temporary two-month GST holiday on select goods and services.. While restaurant meals are included, diners are unlikely to notice much of a difference, says Yu Ma, Associate Professor of Marketing at McGill Desautels. On a $20 restaurant tab, the 5% GST amounts to only one dollar.
Donald Trump’s counterparts learned best practices during his first term
Donald Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian steel before and also lifted them. And then imposed them again. The on-again, off-again tariff truce cycle has played out in multiple industries, and Canada can expect more incendiary rhetoric on trade in a second Trump term, writes Professor Vivek Astvansh in The Conversation Canada. So how should Canada engage with Trump’s theatrical approach to politics?
Prospect of new U.S. tariffs creates uncertainty for QC businesses
For Quebec businesses, Donald Trump’s planned tariffs are a source of significant uncertainty. The Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce nervously awaited the results of the U.S. election. With Trump proposing a 10 per cent tariff on all goods entering the United States, many Quebec businesses could be hit hard.
Quick-service restaurants like St-Hubert seek to deliver value to customers
Good gravy! Quebec’s rotisserie chicken chain St-Hubert has frozen prices for all main courses on its menu and reduced prices on appetizers–all while maintaining portion sizes. This is part of a broader trend toward value in quick-service restaurants. “Food price inflation has hit both grocery stores and restaurants, but it’s more noticeable in restaurants,” Associate Professor Yu Ma tells CTV News.
