foreign agricultural service gain report global agriculture information network required public distribution date 12 23 1999 ca9142 canada retail food sector western approved by norval e francis jr us embassy prepared brian woodcock usa export highlights the fir looks at a review of size and importance canadian region in industry within total grocery sales 1998 were 35 9 billion grocer this represents 3 7 growth rate over 1997 well above 5 year average annual 2 regionally represented 33 national includes psd changes no trade matrix ottawa ca1 ca page 1 19 unclassified usda table contents section market summary value overall strengths structure trends demographic factors road map for