Competition Bureau investigates advertised grocery-price restrictions

The Competition Bureau has opened an investigation into minimum advertised pricing policies in the grocery sector and is asking consumers, retailers and suppliers to describe their experience with the practice.

These policies set the lowest price a retailer may advertise, even when the store is prepared to sell the product for less. The Bureau says it is examining whether the rules make deals harder to find, reduce price competition, create barriers for discount and new grocers, or make price coordination easier.

The September 28 announcement expresses regulatory concerns; it is not a finding that any named company broke the law. The Bureau has not identified investigation targets in the release.

Information gathered will also feed into the regulator’s wider examination of competition across Canada’s food supply chain.

Source: Competition Bureau Canada, September 28, 2026.

Illustrative stock photo: Dania Shaeeb via Unsplash, under the Unsplash License. Resized; not a photograph of an investigated business.