Lawyer says ‘everybody should apply’ for share of bread price-fixing settlement

Canadians have until tomorrow to submit an online claim if they bought packaged bread between January 2001 and December 2021.

Canadians have until Friday to submit a claim to receive their share of a $500-million settlement in a national bread price-fixing lawsuit, and an Ontario lawyer with the firm that filed the class action is urging everyone who qualifies to apply.

“Almost everybody in the country, provided you’re an adult and you’re in the country as of a few months ago – everybody should apply,” Jay Strosberg, managing partner at Windsor, Ont.-based firm Strosberg Wingfield Sasso LLP, told CTV’s Your Morning on Thursday.

The settlement of the lawsuit, which alleged that Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. engaged in a decades-long industry-wide scheme to fix bread prices, was approved by an Ontario Superior Court judge in May.

Quebec’s Superior Court also approved the settlement this year, and the deadline for residents of that province to file a claim for their share of the money is Friday, as well.

The agreed upon settlement includes a combined $404 million to be paid by Loblaw and George Weston, while the remaining $96 million is already accounted for through a gift card program Loblaw began in 2018 with the aim of compensating those who were overcharged for bread.

The suit alleged that the companies engaged in these practices over a 20-year period between 2001 and 2021.

Strosberg said Canadians don’t need any proof that they purchased packaged bread products from Loblaw stores during the period in question, as his firm is “taking everybody at their word.”

He noted that it’s not yet clear how much money each individual claimant will receive in the end, as it will depend on how many people apply. Strosberg Wingfield Sasso is also working to ensure that fraudulent claims are weeded out, he said.

“Once we sort through all of that, we’ll have a better idea, but we’re forecasting between about $50 and $75 (per person),” he said.

Anyone who already claimed a $25 gift card from Loblaw is also eligible to apply for a share of the wider settlement before Friday’s deadline, said Strosberg, but that $25 will be factored into the total amount they’re eligible to receive.

“Once we get to $26 or more, they’ll get the difference. In other words, they’ll be put on even footing with everybody else,” he said.

Other major Canadian grocers, including Metro, Sobeys, Walmart, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger, were also accused of price-fixing during the time period covered in the suit, but they all have denied involvement so far.

When asked what it would take for those companies to offer similar compensation packages to customers impacted by the alleged scheme, Strosberg said “that’s a great question, you should ask them.”

“This is just one company that’s come forward and they’ve done the right thing and given us reasonable compensation,” he said.

“In (the first quarter) next year, we’re going to be getting the co-operation from Loblaws, which will, we hope, implicate everybody else … we’re going to chase every single one of these alleged defendants and make sure that they’re held to account.”