Backgrounder: Competition Bureau monitors Loblaw’s commitment to end property controls

The Competition Bureau is monitoring Loblaw’s recent commitment towards eliminating property controls in Canada.

June 12, 2025 – GATINEAU (Québec), Competition Bureau

The Competition Bureau is monitoring Loblaw’s recent commitment towards eliminating property controls in Canada.

Loblaw’s commitment

Loblaw’s public commitment to end its use of property controls marks a key milestone for competition in the Canadian grocery industry.

For restrictive covenants, Loblaw has committed to:

• eliminating existing restrictive covenants. Loblaw plans to either remove the restrictive covenant from land titles or inform landowners that it will not enforce the restrictive covenant; and
• not entering into new restrictive covenants.

For exclusivity clauses, Loblaw has committed to:

• waiving all exclusivity clauses in the Halifax Regional Municipality and in communities across the country where they operate the only grocery store;
• granting waivers for, and not entering into, exclusivity clauses that prohibit other tenants from operating a retail store that sells only a subset of the products typically sold by a grocery store. For example, a butcher, bakery, or store that sells produce;
• not enforcing, or entering into, exclusivity clauses that extend beyond the land where the Loblaw store is or will be located;
• not including restrictions on the sale of food products in new leases for Shoppers Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Quebec), effective November 2024.

Information for businesses

Property controls can raise serious competition concerns. The Competition Bureau encourages Canadian businesses to review their property control practices to ensure that they comply with the law.

Businesses who use or who are considering using property controls should ask themselves:

• Is the property control necessary to allow a new business to enter the market or to encourage a new investment? Are there other ways to allow for this entry or investment that do not make it more difficult for rivals to compete?
• Could this property control last for a shorter period of time?
• Could this property control cover less geographic area?
• Could this property control cover fewer products or services?

More information on the Bureau’s enforcement approach to competitor property controls is available in the guidance.

The Bureau’s work on property controls

• In June 2023, the Bureau published its grocery market study, where it recommended that all levels of Canadian government act to increase competition in the grocery industry. The study also concluded that property controls can limit competition from new grocers and can deny consumers the benefits of competition including lower prices, greater choice and increased innovation.
• In June 2024, the Bureau announced that it obtained two court orders to advance its investigations into the use of property controls by Sobeys’ and Loblaw’s parent companies.
• In October 2024, the Bureau invited market participants to provide input about the use of property controls in the Canadians grocery industry.
• In January 2025, the Bureau announced that Sobeys’ parent company, Empire, agreed to remove a property control that restricted retail grocery store competition in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta.
• Earlier this month, following a public consultation, the Bureau published updated guidance on competitor property controls.

Next steps

The Competition Bureau’s investigation into property controls in the Canadian grocery industry is ongoing, and the Bureau continues to monitor the industry closely. This includes monitoring to ensure Loblaw upholds its commitments. The Bureau urges Canadians to report any property controls that may be anti-competitive using the online complaint form.