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Truro Colchester Welcome Network

Groceries

Grocery Stores

Depending on where you came from, you may notice that shopping for food is different in Canada. Most Canadians shop once a week or once every 2 weeks. We buy our food at one of 3 main large grocery chains:

There are 2 Sobeys locations and one Atlantic Superstore in Truro. There is one Foodland location in each of these communities:

  • Bible Hill
  • Stewiacke
  • Tatamagouche

Walmart and Giant Tiger sell groceries at a lower price. They also sell other items like clothing and housewares. Both are in Truro.

Some smaller grocery stores offer items that you can not get at the larger chains. For example, you may want some items that you used to buy at home. Or you may want to buy local products.

Specialty Stores

About one hour away, in Halifax-Dartmouth, you can find foods from China, Eastern Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East. See the following table:

Farmers’ Markets

Colchester County is also home to 3 farmers’ markets. These are open once a week. They sell locally produced food and other goods.

Truro Farmers’ Market
trurofarmersmarket.org
Portapique Farmers’ Market
facebook.com/portapiquemarket
Tatamagouche Farmers’ Market
tatafarmersmarket.com

Sales Tax

In Nova Scotia, sales tax is called HST. That stands for Harmonized Sales Tax. It’s called that because it is a combination of a 5% federal tax and a 10% provincial tax.

You do not have to pay HST on basic groceries that you use to prepare food at home. You do have to pay HST on foods that come ready to eat, like snack foods and ready-to-eat meals.

Tax is not normally included on the price tag. Expect to be charged 15% more at the cash register. For more information, visit novascotia.ca/finance. Click “Taxation”, then choose “Tax 101”, then “HST”.