When you think of berries from the grocery store, one brand probably comes to mind first. Driscoll’s is the biggest berry seller in the world, and its clamshells of strawberries and blueberries are a fixture in produce aisles across Canada.
Now, the company is facing a proposed class action here in Quebec.
Montreal law firm Trudel Johnston & Lespérance filed an application for authorization in Quebec Superior Court on September 28. It alleges that Driscoll’s sold berries in Canada with pesticide residues and other chemicals above the limits allowed under Canadian law, and didn’t tell anyone.
The proposed class covers anyone who bought Driscoll’s strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or blueberries in Quebec since January 1, 2022.
However, a judge still has to authorize the class action, and none of the allegations have been proven in court. There’s no settlement and no money to claim yet.
What the lawsuit alleges
According to the filing, Driscoll’s had a system in place to track the time between when pesticides were last applied to its berries and when they were harvested, giving residues time to break down so the fruit stays within Canada’s legal limits. The company allegedly scrapped that system (at least partially) in 2022.
By October 2022 at the latest, the filing claims, both the CFIA and one of Driscoll’s own employees had warned the company about chemical levels on its berries. It allegedly kept shipping millions of pounds of fruit to Canada anyway.
The application says CFIA inspections at Canadian grocery stores between 2022 and 2024 found Driscoll’s berries with levels of bifenthrin, iprodione and captan above what’s allowed in Canada.
Much of the Quebec case leans on a lawsuit filed in California in June by David Harada, Driscoll’s former director of food safety and regulatory compliance for the U.S. and Canada. According to his lawsuit, he was fired in October 2025 after raising concerns that the company was exporting berries with pesticide levels above Canadian limits.
His suit alleges that the company itself estimated about half of its exports to Canada between 2022 and 2024 contained fruit over the legal thresholds, worth close to US$100 million.
The Quebec filing also quotes internal emails cited in Harada’s lawsuit. In one, sent in May 2025, a company executive allegedly wrote that “Canada eligible fruit continues to haunt me and enter my nightmares.”
The allegations were first reported by CBC News in late September.
What the class action is asking for
The suit is seeking a reduction in the price members paid for the berries, plus punitive damages. It argues that shoppers had no way of knowing the fruit might be over the legal limits, and that Driscoll’s reassuring messaging about food safety made things worse.
The case centres on regulatory limits and misleading consumers, not illness. Still, the filing claims the CFIA received reports of potential illnesses linked to Driscoll’s blueberries, along with complaints about a chemical taste or smell. There’s no recall in place.
The plaintiff, Sibylle Gauthier, estimates she’s spent at least $150 on Driscoll’s berries since 2022. The filing says the full class could include hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of Quebecers.
According to the filing, Driscoll’s berries are sold in Montreal at IGA, Metro, Maxi, Provigo, Super C, Tradition, Rachelle Béry and Shoppers Drug Mart.
What Driscoll’s says
In a statement to MTL Blog, Driscoll’s said it disputes the allegations and “welcomes the opportunity to address these claims through the legal process, where the underlying facts, data, and expert analysis can be fully examined.”
“Driscoll’s berries are safe to eat,” the company said, adding that it “employs extensive testing, monitoring, and compliance procedures designed to meet regulatory requirements in the markets where our products are sold, including Canada.”
What happens next
A date for the authorization hearing hasn’t been set yet, and a decision could take at least a year. Should a judge approve the class action, members will be notified.
Driscoll’s is also facing a proposed class action in California.
In the meantime, anyone who thinks they’re part of the Quebec group can sign up for updates on Trudel Johnston & Lespérance’s website. Hanging on to old receipts probably wouldn’t hurt either.
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