'Foods marked product of Canada or made in Canada actually may not be very Canadian,' said Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (CBC)

Food items labelled as a product of Canada or made in Canada will now have to ensure that nearly all of their contents are Canadian in origin and processed in this country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday.

Harper said that most consumers assume that food with a "made in Canada" or "product of Canada," label was grown, processed and packaged in Canada by Canadian farmers and producers.

"But this is not in fact the case," Harper said in Beamsville, Ont.

"The truth is foods marked product of Canada or made in Canada actually may not be very Canadian at all."

Harper said that's because under current Canadian law, if 51 per cent of the production costs were incurred in Canada and the last substantial transformation of the product occurred in Canada, it is legal to use those labels.

"Under our new rules, if something in the grocery store is marked product of Canada, it must mean all or virtually all the contents are Canadian," Harper said.

The made-in-Canada label will mean the product was manufactured or processed in Canada. While such a product can include non-Canadian contents, the label must make it clear by specifying it was made in Canada with imported ingredients, Harper said.