Domestic suppliers increasingly pushing for price hikes: Dollarama CEO

A person walks past a Dollarama store in Montreal, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi (Christinne Muschi)

Dollarama Inc.’s chief executive has been raising his eyebrow at price increases several Canadian manufacturers and suppliers are pushing for.

“Certainly, domestic producers are being very, very, comfortable asking for price increases, when we’re not seeing the input costs going up on a lot of the products that those price increases are being asked for,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a call Thursday.

“It’s very hard to keep up with why they’re doing that other than wanting to make more profit.”

Rossy’s remarks come as 2025 is winding to a close with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats still looming large and trade uncertainty continuing to pressure Canada’s economy and beyond.

To help the country weather this geopolitical storm, many customers have tried to do their part by supporting more domestic brands.

But Rossy indicated the pricing these brands want him to impose on customers doesn’t always add up because by comparison, his company hasn’t seen many requests for increases on imported goods.

“For the imports, it’s much clearer (where price requests are coming from) because it’s all based on input costs and nothing more than that, not a strategy to make more money per se,” he said. “So it’s much easier to control and much easier to forecast.”

Rossy didn’t say how many requests from domestic producers have resulted in price hikes at his retailer but said several were “unavoidable.”

However, chief financial officer Patrick Bui later mentioned that the company has “a lot of room to grow” within its $5 price cap and “there’s no reason for us to change that strategy.”

“On the back of strong inflation, suppliers pushing costs or attempting to push costs that certainly puts added pressure on the unit costs,” he said on the same call as Rossy. “But overall, when you look at our results, and you look at the relative value deliver in the stores, I think we are able to fare fine.”

The results he was referring to show Dollarama’s third-quarter profit reached $321.7 million, up from $275.8 million a year earlier.

It amounted to $1.17 per diluted share for the quarter ended Nov. 2, up from 98 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Sales for the period totalled $1.91 billion, up from $1.56 billion in the same quarter last year, boosted by the addition of 401 stores in Australia and growth in the number of Canadian stores.

Dollarama announced plans to buy Australian competitor the Reject Shop in March and has since been working to revamp the business. The company has been tinkering with the Reject Shop’s store layouts and has reviewed its merchandise. It plans to add Dollarama products to the brand’s shelves next year.

Meanwhile, Dollarama continues to expand in Canada and its low costs mean the company has been reaping the benefits of customers being more price conscious.

“Amid economic uncertainty, the certainty of our low prices and year-round value keeps bringing consumers back,” Rossy said.

Dollarama’s comparable-store sales in Canada for the third quarter increased six per cent, including a 4.1 per cent increase in the number of transactions and a 1.9 per cent increase in average transaction size.

In its outlook, Dollarama said it expects Canadian same-store sales growth of 4.2 per cent to 4.7 per cent for its 2026 financial year, up from earlier guidance of between three per cent and four per cent.

It predicts Canadian gross margins between 45 per cent and 45.5 per cent, up from between 44.2 per cent and 45.2 per cent. Canadian capital expenditures will likely total between $240 million and $285 million, compared with earlier guidance for between $285 million and $330 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press