One step forward, one step back
The CFIA defines traceability as “the ability to track the movement of a food product, one step forward and one step back in the supply chain.”
Source: CFIA, Traceability requirements under the SFCR
Selling to Walmart Canada
Their onboarding will ask
how you trace a lot.
GS1 Canada names Walmart Canada on its grocery supplier checklist and again in its traceability standards. Walmart’s published food-traceability requirements are scoped to the United States and Puerto Rico, so we do not carry them over to Canada.
Sourcing
What we verified, and what we did not
We only state a requirement if we read it at the source. Everything we could not read is listed just as plainly — treat it as a question for Walmart Canada, not as a requirement we have confirmed.
Verified — read at the source
- A GS1 licence and a GTIN for every product variantGS1 Canada states a GS1 licence is “the foundation for selling to Canadian retailers,” and that “Each unique product needs its own GTIN — that includes every different size, flavour, format, or packaging variation.”
- Product data loaded to the ECCnet RegistryThe checklist instructs suppliers to “Register for the ECCnet Registry (NIS) and use ProSYNC to load your product data.”
- The Retail Trading Partner Services Bundle for Walmart CanadaGS1 Canada names Walmart Canada on its grocery checklist and states that to sell to a named retailer “you must select the Retail Trading Partner Services Bundle. This ensures all required images and data content are captured.”
- Case-labelling guidance for fresh produceGS1 Canada’s traceability standards page references a 2020 Walmart Canada guidance document on case labelling for fresh produce, and pairs the GTIN with a lot number using Application Identifiers (01) and (10) encoded in a GS1-128 barcode, with an SSCC identifying the logistic unit.
Source: GS1 Canada, Grocery Checklist & Traceability Standards — read 2026-08-25
Not verified — confirm with Walmart Canada
- Whether Walmart’s published traceability rules apply in CanadaWalmart’s food-traceability requirements page — SSCC-18 at pallet level, GS1-128 case labels, and lot/batch codes, date codes and lot source supplied by ASN — is headed “U.S. | Puerto Rico Food Safety” and contains no mention of Walmart Canada. We read it on 2026-08-25 and are deliberately not restating it as a Walmart Canada requirement.
- Any Walmart Canada recall-response time limitNot verified. The page we read specifies no timeframe for responding to a traceability request. Confirm directly with Walmart Canada.
No source we could read states these — checked 2026-08-25
Applies regardless
The regulatory floor is not optional
Whatever Walmart Canada asks for commercially, the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations apply underneath it. These we did read at the source.
A lot code, kept two years
Traceability documents carry the common name, a lot code or unique identifier, and the name and address of the location — kept for two years, on paper or electronically.
Source: CFIA, Traceability requirements under the SFCR
It reaches the grower
The requirements reach businesses that “grow and harvest fresh fruits or vegetables to be exported or sent across provincial or territorial boundaries.”
Source: CFIA, New traceability requirements
Shipped, not roadmap
What Light Engine already does about it
Every item is a running endpoint or screen in the product today.
A lot code on every harvest
Seeding, transplant, harvest, QA result and despatch land against a lot code as they happen.
Recall query, both directions
One query answers what went into a lot and where that lot went.
Reverse trace from a supplier batch
List every lot that came off an upstream batch, across every flush and zone.
A recall drill that times itself
The screen clocks the drill. We do not print a number here — run it and quote your own.
The rehearsal becomes a record
Who, which lot, when, how long — and what was missing, written down verbatim.
An audit packet you can hand over
Trace report, elapsed time and rehearsal history as one printable document.
An SFCR export for the CFIA
A date-ranged export of the trace ledger as CSV or JSON.
Food-safety input records
CanadaGAP V9 input records, validated so an evidence-free record is rejected.
A scannable barcode for the lot code
Code 128, Code 93, EAN-13 or UPC images for your own labels and internal scanning.
Light Engine does not issue GTINs, print GS1-128 case labels, or act as your ECCnet listing — those come from your own GS1 Canada licence and labelling system. It holds the lot identity they carry. Full boundary on the traceability overview.
Run the drill before they ask
Walk into Walmart Canada onboarding with a timed rehearsal, an audit packet and two years of lot records already in order.