Canada’s Competition Bureau has secured federal court orders to deepen its investigation into Empire Company’s use of property controls nationwide, expanding a review that had previously centred on the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).
The parent company of chains such as Farm Boy, Foodland, FreshCo, IGA, Safeway and Sobeys, Empire is under examination as the watchdog assesses whether its use of property controls is damaging competition in the grocery retail market.
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The regulator said weak competition in the sector can contribute to higher prices, poorer quality and less product availability.
Under the new court orders, Empire must provide records, written responses and oral evidence connected to the investigation.
The bureau had already obtained a separate court order requiring the company to hand over information related to property controls in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
It said the latest orders are intended to gather further details on how widely Empire uses property controls across Canada, how those arrangements are negotiated and what effect they may have on competition.
The investigation is continuing, with the bureau stating that no wrongdoing has been found at this point.
Property controls are limits placed on the use of commercial real estate that can restrict how other businesses use certain sites.
According to the bureau, these arrangements are common in Canadian retail and can make it harder, or in some cases impossible, for rival operators to establish new stores.
The probe follows the bureau’s grocery market study published in June 2023, which found that property controls can curb competition from new grocery entrants and weaken consumer benefits such as lower prices, wider choice and innovation.
In June 2024, the bureau obtained two court orders during investigations into property controls used by the parent companies of Sobeys and Loblaw in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
In January 2025, the bureau’s investigative steps led to Empire agreeing to remove a property control in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, which had limited competition from retail grocery stores.
The bureau also said in June 2025 that it was still overseeing Loblaw’s public pledge to end property controls in Canada.
