Property control probe expanded Canada

Property control probe expanded Canada-wide to parent company of Safeway, IGA

Published 3:17 pm Monday, June 22, 2026

The produce section in the Newton Chalo FreshCo in Surrey, B.C., pictured in July 2019. FreshCo’s parent company, Empire Company Ltd., is being investigated by the Competition Bureau of Canada to assess whether its practices harm competition in the retail grocery industry. (Lauren Collins/Black Press Media)

The Competition Bureau of Canada has been granted expanded orders to investigate the parent company of Safeway, IGA and FreshCo to assess whether its practices harm competition in the retail grocery industry.

The Federal Court issued orders for the Competition Bureau to advance its investigation into Empire Company Ltd.’s use of property controls in Canada, according to a news release Monday (June 22). Empire is the parent company of Safeway, IGA, FresCo, Sobeys, and Farm Boy.

There are Safeways in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. IGAs are located in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. FreshCos are located in B.C. and Alberta.

Sobeys stores are located in the Maritimes, while Farm Boys are in Ontario.

The investigation is examining the company’s use of property controls across Canada to determine whether Empire’s practices harm competition in the retail grocery industry. The court orders require records, written information, and oral testimony relevant to the bureau’s investigation.

It will also look at the scope of Empire’s practices in Canada, including how the company negotiates property controls and their potential impacts on competition across the country.

This expansion follows an initial court order in the investigation that required Empire to produce information focused on property controls in Halifax.

The release adds that the investigation is ongoing.

Lack of competition in the grocery industry, the release says, can result in higher prices, lower quality, and less availability.

Property controls restrict how commercial real estate can be used by others. The release adds that property controls are common across Canada, but they can harm competition by making it difficult, “or even impossible,” for businesses to open new stores.

The Competition Bureau of Canada published a grocery market study in June 2023 that found 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.

Then in June 2024, the competition bureau obtained two court orders to advance its investigations into the use of property controls by Sobeys’ and Loblaw’s parent companies – Empire and George Weston Ltd.’s, respectively – related to property controls in Halifax.

In January 2025, Empire agreed to remove a property control that restricted retail grocery store competition in Crowsnest Pass, Alta. Empire’s IGA store was the only one in Crowsnest Pass, with the restriction in place in the region since 2017.

The competition bureau said in June 2025 that it would be monitoring Loblaw’s commitment to eliminating property controls.