Fifth in a series of articles focused on what government and business should do to help consumers make wise shopping decisions.

A voluntary code already in place at most major Canadian retailers, intended to provide an element of price protection, has introduced new wrinkles and possibly a benefit to consumers who choose self-checkout. 

The Scanner Price Accuracy Code was introduced to Canadian stores in 2002, when the introduction of bar codes on products made consumers suspicious about whether the scanned price would match the price advertised on the shelf.

The Code is designed to ensure that when a scanned price of an item is higher than its displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the item free of charge when it is worth less than $10, or to get a $10 reduction in price above that. 

The Code is voluntary, but most major grocery chains, big-box retailers, pharmacies and others participate in it. It’s administered in all of Canada but Quebec by the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), an industry association. 

The Code requires signage both at a retailer’s entrance door, and at each cash register. 

When consumers were served by a human cashier, it was easier to bring a price discrepancy to the attention of the immediately present cashier. The process may be more difficult for consumers in a self-checkout situation, depending on staffing and busyness in the self-check out area. If the consumer notices the discrepancy, they need to stop pricing their own groceries, and then find an attendant, if present or not engaged with another customer, to provide assistance on how to make a correction.

However, consumers may find it easier to see the checkout price on a self-checkout screen than in a busy human-served grocery line-up, where, for example, they may be busy packing their own groceries and unable to watch a checkout screen. They may not see the price they paid until presented with their receipt.

“Our perspective is we would still want them to point it [a price discrepency] out because either the tag or computer is wrong, and one of the two need to be corrected,” said Greg Wilson, RCC director of government relations for British Columbia, who added that he didn’t think self-checkouts have had any impact on the use of the Code. 

The RCC said it’s impractical to put the sticker explaining the Code on a self-checkout, and shoppers who notice a discrepancy while scanning their own items can go to the customer service counter.

“The purpose of the Code was to reassure consumers when [UPC scanning] came in. Is it necessary in its current form? Probably, it’s outdated,” Wilson said.

The Code does not apply to retailers in Quebec, where the government has regulated scanner accuracy. The province’s price accuracy policy also gives shoppers a discount if a price rung in at the check out is higher than the price advertised. That maximum discount increased from $10 to $15 in May 2025. 

A recent Consumers Council of Canada survey of more than 4,500 Canadians found that both awareness of the price scanning code and law and compliance by retailers was low.

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Consumers expressed strong support for unit pricing in a series of questions about store pricing in a recent online survey of more than 4,500 Canadians by Consumers Council of Canada conducted through Environics Research.