# Competition Bureau probes grocery ‘deal’ gag rules

> Watchdog opens probe into minimum advertised pricing policies that can block grocers from promoting their lowest prices.

- Desk: TIC Staff
- Published: 2026-09-28
- Section: Policy
- Canonical: https://trueinflation.ca/article/competition-bureau-grocery-minimum-advertised-pricing

Canada’s competition watchdog says the flyer deals Canadians hunt every week may be censored before they ever leave the store. The Competition Bureau has opened an investigation into minimum advertised pricing policies in grocery — supplier or retailer rules that set the lowest price a grocer is allowed to advertise.

Those MAP clauses can block a retailer from publicizing a discount even when it is willing to sell cheaper in-aisle. The Bureau warns some chains may scrap in-store discounts entirely if they cannot advertise them. In a concentrated retail grocery market, that makes it harder for discounters and new entrants to compete — and easier for incumbents to keep prices aligned.

Interim Commissioner Jeanne Pratt said Canadians expect stores to advertise their best deals, and that policies preventing that hurt competition and food affordability. The Bureau wants evidence from consumers, retailers and suppliers; the intake will feed both this probe and a broader look at competition across the food supply chain, building on its 2023 retail grocery market study.

For inflation, this is the sticky-food story with a competition twist: if advertised floors keep the cheapest offers off flyers and apps, measured “deals” understate how much price discovery is being throttled — and grocery CPI stays harder to bring down.

Source: Competition Bureau Canada­