Bread price-fixing settlement payments show Canada’s competition laws are still failing consumers

May 21 2026 [Ottawa, ON] –  As Canadians begin receiving payments from the $500-million packaged bread class-action settlement, Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP) says the small individual refunds are a reminder that Canada’s competition policy is still not delivering meaningful restitution for consumers harmed by corporate misconduct. 

Approved claimants are reportedly receiving $49.11, or $24.11 if they previously received a $25 Loblaw gift card. The payments follow a class action lawsuit related to alleged industry-wide bread price fixing involving packaged bread products purchased by Canadians over a period spanning more than a decade. 

“Canadians are right to be angry that one of the most notorious competition scandals in the country has translated into payments of less than $50,” said Keldon Bester, Executive Director of CAMP. “We appreciate the efforts of the firms bringing these class action suits, but the bread price-fixing case should have been a turning point in Canada. Instead, nearly a decade later, grocery competition is worse, consumers are still paying the price, and our laws are still struggling to deliver real accountability.” 

The settlement comes as grocery affordability remains a major concern for households across Canada. The bread price-fixing case exposes the limits of a system that relies too heavily on after-the-fact enforcement, lengthy legal processes, and settlements that provide limited relief to individual consumers. By allowing the grocery market to consolidate, regulators have created the conditions for coordination and collusion between players.  

“The bread price fixing scandal was a massive transfer of wealth from everyday households to our oligopoly grocery market, and to date only a single firm has had to pay a penalty related to the government’s case,” said Bester. “When any restitution arrives nearly a decade later , it shows how poorly the system is designed to repair harm after it has already happened.” 

“The lesson from the bread settlement is not that the system worked,” said Bester. “It’s that consumers waited years for a fraction of what they lost, while the grocery sector became even more concentrated and even harder to discipline. Canada needs  competition policy that protects people before the damage is done.”