Leaving Canada would lower Alberta's food prices by ending supply management.
Claimed by: Raised in Alberta independence debates
Needs context: Accurate as written, but a key piece of context changes how it reads. How we rate.
Summary
The premise is sound but the conclusion is not automatic. Canada's supply management system for dairy, poultry, and eggs does raise prices, with peer-reviewed work estimating it costs the average household several hundred dollars a year and hits low-income families hardest. An independent Alberta could choose to drop it. But two caveats matter: a new Alberta would still set its own farm and trade policy, and prices would depend on those choices, and Alberta does not need to leave Canada to push for reform, since supply management is a federal policy that has already been loosened in trade deals. So lower food prices are possible, but not a guaranteed payoff of separation.
Evidence
Peer-reviewed research estimates supply management costs the average household about $444 a year, and more for families with children, acting as a regressive implicit tax.
National Post (Milked and Feathered study, Canadian Public Policy)
Supply management uses production quotas and high import tariffs that keep dairy, poultry, and egg prices above open-market levels.