Manitoba Introduces Bill to Ban Personalized Grocery Pricing

The Manitoba government introduced legislation last week to prohibit what it describes as predatory pricing in grocery sales, aiming to prevent retailers from charging different prices for the same product based on shoppers' personal data. Finance Minister Adrien Sala announced the measure in Winnipeg on March 17, 2026, emphasizing the need to safeguard consumers from emerging technologies that could exploit individual information.

The proposed bill, known as Bill 49, would amend The Business Practices Act to classify the use of algorithms, data analytics, machine learning, or artificial intelligence for personalized pricing as an unfair business practice. It targets both online and in-store environments, including electronic shelf labels that allow rapid price adjustments. Sala cited a 2025 investigation by Consumer Reports and two U.S. advocacy groups, which revealed that online shoppers on third-party platforms, such as Instacart, were sometimes charged varying prices for identical items purchased simultaneously from the same seller. Instacart discontinued the practice following public backlash.

Although no instances of such pricing have been reported in Manitoba, Sala argued...