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Barcodes and GTINs: how to get them in Canada without a reprint

To sell in Canadian grocery stores, you need GTINs licensed to your company by GS1 Canada, one for every product and format, printed as a barcode that scans at the checkout on the first pass.

Updated 22 September 2026 · 8 minute read

The number first, the picture second

A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is a 12, 13 or 14 digit number that identifies one specific product. The barcode is how that number gets printed so a scanner can read it. In grocery, people call all of it "the UPC": GS1 Canada notes that the GTIN-12 was formerly known as the U.P.C., and that the UPC-A is the barcode North American retailers most often require.

So there are two ways to get it wrong: a number that isn't yours, or the right number printed badly.

Why GS1 Canada, not a reseller

GS1 Canada issues GTINs in Canada. Its Barcodes page says "GS1 is the only official provider of GS1 GTINs and UPC barcodes globally." Its FAQ warns that numbers bought elsewhere "could be subject to duplication or fraud and may not be linked to your product or business".

Your customers can check who a number belongs to, with Verified by GS1 or the company prefix database GS1 US points to. With a reseller number, your name may not show up.

The path GS1 Canada lays out for grocery suppliers starts there too: your licence, then your GTINs, then your product data in ECCnet. For Sobeys, Loblaw or Metro, its checklist adds the Retail Trading Partner Services Bundle (see our ECCnet guide). That is a requirement, not a guaranteed listing.

One more thing: the licence is annual. If you cancel, GS1 Canada says, "you will no longer be authorized to use your GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs)". The numbers already printed on your packaging stay there, but you no longer have the right to use them.

What it costs

Prices listed on gs1ca.org on 22 September 2026, in Canadian dollars per year. Your tier depends on how many barcodes you need and your gross revenue. The subscription renews automatically unless GS1 Canada receives written notice at least 60 days before it expires.

With Individual or Basic, GS1 Canada hands you finished numbers. With Limited, you get a prefix and build your numbers yourself.

The Essentials bundles (gross revenue under $2,500,000) add product data loading: from $341.25 a year for 10 GTINs to $1,128.75 for 40 in the PLUS version, plus a $152.25 setup fee from 20 GTINs up, with taxes and image capture extra. They can't be bought online: call 1-800-567-7084 or email info@gs1ca.org. Prices change, so check gs1ca.org before you budget.

How many GTINs do you need?

One for every product a shopper or retailer needs to tell apart. GS1 Canada's FAQ puts it plainly: "you need a unique GTIN for every size, flavour and modification (such as low-fat or sugar-free) for your products."

Every packaging level above the unit you sell (the case, sometimes an inner pack) gets its own GTIN too. Take a fictional jam in three flavours and two sizes: that's six GTINs for the jars. If each one ships in cases of 12, add six case GTINs. GS1 Canada's GTIN Estimator helps you count before you pick a tier.

When a change needs a new GTIN

GS1 Canada's GTIN guide for grocery (release 1.2, January 2026) sets out ten rules. The ones that hit food brands most often:

• any change to the declared net content, up or down;
• a new formulation that changes the legally required information on the pack and that shoppers are expected to notice, such as an allergen added or removed (both conditions must be met);
• a change of more than 20% to a dimension or the gross weight;
• adding or removing a certification mark (organic, kosher, halal);
• a change to the primary brand;
• a new number of units per case, which changes the case GTIN only.

Since 1 January 2019, a GTIN can't be reused, and regulations take precedence over these rules. Keep a register (number, product, format, date): the Manage My GTINs tool that comes with your subscription is built for that.

GTIN-12, GTIN-13, GTIN-14: which goes where

The number after "GTIN" is the length, and each length has its own symbol.

UPC-A or EAN-13? GS1 Canada says GTIN-12 and GTIN-13 are both approved for retail point of sale, and GS1 US says both work internationally. Print the symbol that matches the number on your licence: a GTIN-12 goes in a UPC-A, a GTIN-13 in an EAN-13.

A case's GTIN-14 is built from the GTIN of the unit inside: an indicator digit in front, then a recalculated check digit. It's a different number, one that identifies the case rather than the jar. It's printed as an ITF-14, a symbol GS1 restricts to items that don't pass through the retail checkout.

The printed barcode: size, margins, colours

Size

At nominal size (100%), a UPC-A or EAN-13 is 37.29 mm wide including its margins, with bars at least 22.85 mm tall. You can shrink it to 80% (29.83 mm by 18.28 mm) or enlarge it to 200%. Below 80%, it falls outside the GS1 specification.

Don't cut the bar height to save space: a truncated barcode can no longer be scanned from every direction at the till. GS1 Canada's designer guide says never to truncate on a package big enough for a full-size symbol, and offers a small-package exemption request for the really small ones.

Quiet zones

The blank margins on the left and right are part of the symbol. They must stay free of text, graphics, die lines, glue flaps and scores. At 100%, the GS1 specifications call for 3.63 mm on the left and 2.31 mm on the right of an EAN-13, and 2.97 mm on each side of a UPC-A. Keep the barcode away from the edge too, so the margin survives trimming. On cases, the ITF-14 needs quiet zones of at least ten times its narrowest bar and a bearer bar frame, which is mandatory unless it's technically impossible.

Colours

Barcode quality is measured under 660 nm red light, and GS1 Canada's designer guide says the laser in the scanner doesn't read red. So avoid red, orange or yellow bars. Black on white is safest; dark green and dark blue work too. Red, magenta and yellow are fine only for the light background.

Materials matter as well: an opaque white behind the barcode on clear packaging, two inks on metallic surfaces rather than the bare metal, and no halftone screen behind the symbol.

Test before the print run

A phone app reading your barcode tells you nothing about its grade. A verifier built to ISO standards measures nine attributes (contrast, quiet zones, defects, decoding and so on), and the lowest grade becomes the grade of the whole symbol. At the checkout, the minimum is 1.5 out of 4 (grade C), written 1.5/06/660 in the GS1 specifications.

GS1 Canada recommends two stages: verify the proof before production, then test the finished package as it will reach the scanner, with the product inside and any overwrap on.

GS1 Canada runs this service in Montreal, at 9200 boulevard du Golf, for subscribers in good standing only: products, proofs or labels, graded A (4.0) to F, with a certificate for barcodes that pass. It covers UPC-A, EAN-13 and ITF-14, among others. The price isn't listed on the page, so ask before you send anything.

Mistakes that force a reprint

• A number bought from a reseller that isn't linked to your business.
• A barcode shrunk below 80%, or truncated to fit a panel that's too small.
• Text, a die line or a glue flap in the quiet zone.
• Red, orange or yellow bars, picked to match the label.
• A barcode printed on clear or metallic film with no white behind it.
• The same GTIN kept after a net content change, even though net content drives the unit price on the shelf tag (GS1 Canada mentions possible penalties).
• No GTIN for the case, when every packaging level needs one.

What about the QR code?

Your current barcode stays. In its Retail 2D Transition FAQ (September 2025), GS1 Canada says linear barcodes like the UPC-A "are not going away" and that the transition is "optional for brand owners". A GS1 QR code goes next to the barcode and carries the same GTIN (see our guides on the GS1 QR code and Sunrise 2027). To see what one opens, scan a real demo: the page of a fictional product.