Ontario court approves $500m settlement in Loblaw bread case opening door to consumer claims
Canadian shoppers who bought packaged bread over the past two decades may soon receive up to $25.
This follows the Ontario Superior Court’s approval of a $500m class-action settlement involving Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd., according to The Canadian Press.
As per Judge Ed Morgan’s May 7 decision, the settlement includes $404m in direct payments from Loblaw and George Weston, and $96m through a prior Loblaw gift card program offered in 2018–19.
Morgan described the outcome as “an excellent and fair result for all concerned” and said it “falls squarely within the zone of reasonableness.”
According to CBC News, the case marks what is being called the largest settlement of a price-fixing case in Canadian history.
Customers who purchased packaged bread between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2021, and did not previously claim a Loblaw gift card, will be eligible to receive up to $25 once claims open.
Those who had received the $25 gift card earlier will only be eligible for further payment if any funds remain after the main distribution, as stated on the official class-action settlement websites.
Consumers must register through a website for the Ontario class or reglementpainquebec.ca for the Quebec class.
No receipts are required. Instead, consumers will need to submit a one-page declaration form.
According to plaintiff lawyer Jay Strosberg, “Obviously, I won’t need receipts” was the correct interpretation, as he confirmed in an interview on Hanomansing Tonight.
Once legal fees and court expenses are deducted, 78 percent of the remaining funds will be allocated to Ontario shoppers and the rest to Quebec residents, reported The Canadian Press.
The class action was filed by Strosberg Wingfield Sasso LLP in December 2021.
According to the court, the case was “hard fought on all sides.”
The approved settlement also resolves all national bread price-fixing claims against Loblaw and George Weston and requires them to co-operate with continuing claims against other retailers that did not settle.
According to The Canadian Press, Loblaw and George Weston informed the Competition Bureau in 2015 that they participated in the price-fixing practice. This was not public until 2017.
In 2018, Loblaw began offering $25 gift cards to customers who may have paid about $1.50 more per loaf. Still, some shoppers remained unsatisfied, and a Quebec class action followed in 2019.
A Quebec court will review the proposed settlement on June 16.
The lawsuit accused multiple grocers—including Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Giant Tiger, and Canada Bread—of participating in a scheme to fix bread prices between 2001 and 2015.
While Loblaw and George Weston have settled, the other companies have denied any wrongdoing.
Canada Bread, however, pleaded guilty to four counts of price-fixing in June 2023 and was fined $50m, though the fine went to the government and not consumers, as reported by CBC News.
Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas, when asked for comment, referred to a 2024 statement saying, “we sincerely apologize” for the company's role and that they “have taken a number of steps since that time to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
The statement also acknowledged: “We know we have more to do to regain the trust of our customers and we’re committed to doing that.” George Weston has not issued a public response.
Judge Morgan reported that only four formal objections and 475 opt-outs were received, which he described as “very small numbers in view of the estimated 20 million-plus class members.”
None of the objectors appeared in court, and Morgan wrote that their submissions showed no principled objection other than wanting more money.
“While I sympathize with that sentiment, I am not in a position to compel that the settlement fund be increased,” he wrote.
