Clear As Mud: Analyzing Voluntary Property Control Removals So Far

The Competition Bureau recently announced that Empire (the parent company of IGA, Sobeys, etc.), agreed to remove an exclusive/restrictive covenant in favour of the IGA (and only grocery store) in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, that apparently prevented other grocery stores from entering the market,¹ after an "investigation" by the Bureau.

As discussed in the questions below, this announcement may actually bring less clarity for landlords and tenants seeking to understand when and how alleged these types of restrictions will be enforced. Crowsnest Pass is home to about 6,000 people, so this action seems like very low-hanging fruit for the Bureau's first publicly announced attempt at reining in "property controls". The grocery industry and retailers more generally have not yet developed a consistent position on potential enforcement of "property controls". As of November 2024, Walmart has "unilaterally waive[d] retail restrictions",² Loblaw's CEO indicated a desire to