Dressed in red suits and backed by masked elves, a group of Santas marched into a Montreal supermarket, loaded their bags with thousands of dollars worth of groceries and disappeared into the night.

The bandit Santas later released a statement saying the food would be distributed to the needy, and saying the Robin Hood-style stunt was intended to highlight the spiralling cost of living crisis that has pushed basic necessities increasingly out of reach for ordinary Canadians.

Roughly 40 members of a group called called Robins des Ruelles – Robins of the Alleys – participated in the robbery late on Monday.

The statement, released late on Thursday, and entitled “When hunger justifies the means”, said: “We are working more and more just to be able to buy food from supermarket chains that take advantage of inflation as a pretext to make record profits.

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“There is no other way to put it: a handful of companies are holding our basic needs hostage.”

The group said the companies “continue to suffocate the population to siphon away as much money as possible”.

Metro, which owns eight major grocery brands in Ontario and Quebec, said in a statement that shoplifting is a criminal act and unacceptable. The company said price increases are influenced by factors include disruptions in the global supply chain, volatility in commodity prices, changes in international trade conditions – and retail crime, she said.

According to the Retail Council of Canada, retail crime is on the rise and accounted for more than $9bn in lost sales in 2024.

“It should be noted that as a retailer, we are the final stop in the supply chain,” Grégoire said. “The prices on store shelves directly reflect the costs of the supply chain.” Grégoire also noted that Metro in 2025 donated $1.15m and provided more than $81m in food products to food banks.

Three companies control the vast majority of Canada’s grocery stores and have enjoyed record earnings in recent years. Despite government concern over profiteering, while the profits are near-record levels, the companies say their profit margins are shrinking.

Police told reporters they are investigating the theft, but no arrests have been made.

The Robins deposited some groceries in a public square at the foot of a Christmas tree on Tuesday evening, adding that the rest will be distributed through community food banks.

“Don’t forget - the hunger justifies the means,” the group wrote. “Merry Christmas!”