On September 23, 2024, the Competition Tribunal ruled in favour
of the Competition Bureau and found that Cineplex Inc.
(“Cineplex”), the largest cinema chain
in Canada, engaged in “drip pricing” by adding an
online booking fee ranging from $1.00-$1.50 for tickets purchased
online or through the Cineplex app. The fees were collected from
June 2022 to December 31, 2023 (when the Competition Bureau
initiated its investigation). The Competition Tribunal found that
the online booking fee was misleading and contained drip pricing
because the existence and the amount of the fee were not initially
disclosed when consumers were making their purchases. Instead, it
only became visible after the tickets were selected and the
purchaser clicked to ‘proceed' to the next screen.
