Canadian Tire pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay almost $1.3 million for misleading consumers about ‘regular’ prices of goods offered for sale. 

The charges were brought in Quebec court by the province’s Office of Consumer Protection for violations of the province’s Consumer Protection Act, with no involvement of the federal Competition Act, nor the Competition Bureau. 

The consumer protection office conducted a six-month investigation in 2021, tracking the pricing of numerous products offered through Canadian Tire’s website, in flyers and in retail locations. It found Canadian Tire used artificially inflated ‘regular’ prices to make discounts appear larger than they were. 

Section 225(b) of the provincial Act prohibits merchants from falsely indicating a regular price when advertising sales prices. Advertised ‘regular’ prices must correspond to a real selling price of a meaningful period. 

The investigation led to 74 infractions related to seven houseware and hardware products (including knife sets, a cordless drill, cookware). Canadian Tire ultimately admitted liability for five products. Each infraction resulted in a fine of about $16,000. In its public statement following the ruling, Canadian Tire noted no consumers were overcharged, and that the charges related to just a few products over a specific six-month period. 

In its review of the case, one of Canada’s leading commercial law firms noted that the case is a signal that Quebec is taking a more assertive enforcement posture on issues that have commonly been left for the federal Competition Bureau. 

“The matter here was initiated, investigated and escalated directly by the OPC, which ultimately referred the file for penal prosecution. This represents a departure from the OPC’s more typical reliance on admnistrative warnings or lower-value infraction notices,” said McCarty Tetrault.

“The regulator’s willingness to pursue a full penal process signals a more assertive enforcement posture, and sends a clear message to industry that it is prepared to show its teeth where necessary.”