$8-million settlement proposed in national beef price-fixing class-action

VANCOUVER — Conner Macdonald says he’s watched for the last eight years as the price of beef climbed “astronomically,” as customers at the butcher shop where he works turned to chicken or pork, even on special occasions.

“Even with Christmas and Thanksgiving and all the holidays, it’s harder for people to justify getting the big prime rib for the whole family when it ends up being over $1,000 for them,” said Macdonald, a butcher and the general manager at Windsor Quality Meats in Vancouver.

He estimates that in the time he’s been at the butcher shop, the price of prime rib has more than doubled.

It is not just the expensive cuts either, with prices noted by Statistics Canada showing the average price per kilogram of striploin going from $21.94 in January 2017 to $35.30 in May 2026. The price of ground beef has gone from $9.12 per kilogram to $16.07 over the same period.

It was blamed on inflation, tariffs and other factors, but on Thursday a proposed court settlement was announced with some of the meat companies that were accused of conspiring to fix the price of beef for Canadian consumers.

A statement from multiple Canadian law firms issued Thursday said JBS USA Company, Swift Beef Company, JBS Packerland Inc., and JBS Canada ULC have agreed to pay $7.49 million, while National Beef will pay $495,000.

It’s not considered an admission of wrongdoing by the companies and the agreement still needs to be approved by the courts.

The class-action lawsuit against multiple major corporations in the meat industry was filed in 2022. The lawyers say action against other defendants, Cargill and Tyson, is ongoing.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Thomas said in his decision to certify the class-action last year that the companies were accused of conspiring with each other to “fix, maintain, increase or control the price of beef as well as fix, maintain, control, prevent or lessen the production or supply of beef” to influence the price.

The lawsuit accuses senior executives and employees of communicating with each other in secret about “the exchange of private and competitively sensitive information regarding the supply of fed cattle and the production and sale of beef,” Thomas said.

It alleges that as a result of the communication, the companies conspired to reduce and manage their respective slaughter volumes, controlling the supply of beef, while at the same time fixing the price of beef sold in Canada and elsewhere.

It says they would periodically agree to reduce the number of cattle slaughtered or reduce the capacity at certain slaughtering plants.

Macdonald said the message from the distribution industry has blamed the increasing cost of beef on factors like the price of feed, fertilizer and tariffs.

He’s hoping with news of the proposed settlement that prices will drop.

“It would be great to give money out to a lot of people, maybe bring the price down for everyone,” he said.

Details have not been released on how Canadians would qualify for a share of the proposed settlement money.

A representative for the three law firms handling the legal action against the beef companies said no one was available to comment. The companies didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Hearings on whether to approve the deal will be held in September in British Columbia and December in Quebec.

A summary on the law firms’ website says the courts will decide how the settlement funds will be distributed and how someone can apply to receive a share.

The settlement does not include beef products and beef purchased by the food service industry, such as restaurants.

In 2024, a class-action suit was settled for $500 million related to Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd., over the alleged industry-wide price fixing of bread.

In that case Canadians could apply for $25 in compensation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2026.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press