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TORONTO — Canada’s traditional supermarket chains continued to lose market share to Walmart and Costco in the first quarter, according to a new analysis, and there are no signs the trend is slowing down.

Food sales from grocery stores such as Loblaw and Metro were 3.7 times higher overall than food sales from general merchants in the first quarter, according to the report from Kevin Grier Market Analysis and Consulting. In 2010, they were 6.5 times higher.

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“The growth in food sales through the general merchandising channels, largely represented by Walmart and Costco, is astounding,” Grier said in the report released Wednesday.

The pace of the general merchants’ penetration into Canadian grocery retail, once completely dominated by traditional supermarkets, is remarkable: In 2015, grocery retailers’ share of Canadian food sales was about 78 per cent. That has fallen steadily from 84 per cent in 2010, largely due to the growth of Walmart and Costco.