Province bringing cases against grocery stores over property controls

The Manitoba government is challenging four property contacts held by Sobeys, claiming clauses in them are driving up grocery prices.

The Manitoba government will be bringing cases to the Municipal Board against several grocery store properties in the province owned by Sobeys, claiming clauses in their contracts are preventing competition and forcing prices to rise.

Premier Wab Kinew and Public Service Delivery Minister Mintu Sandhu announced four cases against property controls at several locations in Manitoba.

The locations include 915 Leila Avenue and 50 Sage Creek Boulevard in Winnipeg, 178 Provincial Trunk Highway 12 in Steinbach, and 1645 18th Street in Brandon.

“It’s another step towards bringing fairness back to the market here in our province,” Kinew said during the conference.

The law, called The Property Controls for Grocery Stores and Supermarkets Act, passed in June 2025, and prevents grocery stores in Manitoba from creating new restrictive covenants or exclusivity clauses. The clauses prevent new grocery stores competing stores from opening up in some areas, with some contracts even lasting for decades, even if the store has closed.

“If this wasn’t benefiting the company’s bottom line, they wouldn’t be doing it,” Kinew said. “If we can take action to break up some of these property controls, it’s going to lead to lower prices in Manitoba.”

According to a news release, all but 43 property control contract clauses that existed in Manitoba prior to the legislation passing have been removed, and the province will bring a case against each control.

“We are not willing to wait for years for the last of these anti-competition contracts to expire while big chains make record profit and your groceries will keep going up,” Sandhu said.

CTV News has reached out to Sobeys for comment.

The province has announced several measures aimed at lowering grocery prices in recent months, including removing the PST from grocery store items starting July 1 and freezing milk prices.