A ban on surveillance pricing was voted down by the Liberals and the Conservatives in the House of Commons on Wed, April 15. The NDP motion opposed the use of algorithmic pricing because it means that personal data collected instore, on social media and search engines, for each consumer could be used to fix prices.(Global News, April15/26) Surveillance pricing works by setting the maximum price the consumer will pay based on that consumer data. (Globe & Mail, April 27/26) It’s a shake down of each shopper – and everyone in line will pay a different price.
As if the corporate grocery giants didn’t already control the market and make enough money in 2025: (Retail Insider, Feb. 25/26)
Loblaws – $61 billion in revenue, controls about 32% of the market share.
Sobeys (Empire Co.) – $30 billion in revenue, controls about 25% of market share.
Metro Inc. (Ontario/Quebec) – $21 billion in revenue, controls about 15% of market share.
Moreover, in July, 2025, Loblaw agreed to pay $500 million in a class action lawsuit linked to a bread price-fixing scheme. (CBC, News) And all three companies have used property law restrictions to control competition in the business by preventing competitors from operating adjacent to them. (CBC, News, Jan.27/26) In April of this year, it was reported that Loblaws and Sobeys sold underweight packages of meat again. (RCI, Apr.14/26)
So if you trust the grocery giants to use surveillance pricing fairly, think again. They will use it to gouge the maximum out of every shopper – in this day and age when many people struggle to pay for the basic necessities. The Liberals and Conservatives talk big but aren’t doing enough to protect consumers.
