CAMP welcomes legally binding Empire property controls agreement, calls for broader action across grocery sector

September 22, 2026 [Ottawa, ON] – The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP) welcomes a new legally binding agreement between the Competition Bureau and Empire Company Limited addressing the grocery giant’s use of property controls, while emphasizing that barriers to competition extend beyond one company and beyond the grocery sector. 

The Competition Bureau announced today that Empire, the parent company of Sobeys, Farm Boy, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo and other grocery banners, has formalized commitments it first announced in July through a consent agreement registered with the Competition Tribunal. Unlike the company’s earlier voluntary commitments, the agreement is legally binding and enforceable, with the force and effect of a court order.  

“In July, we said scrutiny was paying off but voluntary commitments needed accountability. Today, those commitments have teeth,” said Keldon Bester, Executive Director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. “This is a meaningful step toward opening local grocery markets to more competition and shows the value of sustained enforcement when companies control the terms on which competitors can enter a market.” 

Under the agreement, Empire cannot enforce existing restrictive covenants, create new ones or ask others to establish restrictive covenants that benefit the company. It must also limit its use of exclusivity clauses, including restrictions affecting specialty food retailers and radius clauses that prevent food retailers from operating near Empire grocery developments. The agreement also prevents Empire from enforcing existing exclusivity clauses in 19 local markets identified by the consent agreement.  

The agreement follows several years of Competition Bureau scrutiny of property controls. The Bureau’s 2023 grocery market study concluded that these restrictions can prevent new grocers from entering markets and deny consumers the benefits of greater competition. Its investigation into property controls used by other grocers remains ongoing.  

“This agreement is progress, but the grocery competition problem is bigger than Empire,” Bester said. “The Bureau’s ongoing work across the sector matters, as does action by provinces to prevent property controls from unnecessarily shutting competitors out of local markets.” 

“And the lesson here is bigger than grocery. Across the economy, Canadians benefit when businesses can enter markets and compete without unnecessary contractual or structural barriers standing in their way. Enforcement that removes those barriers is an important part of building more competitive markets.” 

Earlier this month, the Competition Bureau reported that Empire, Loblaw and Walmart had all taken steps toward eliminating property controls, while noting that it continues to investigate the practices of major grocery retailers and assess their effects on competition.