Could algorithms affect Quebecers’ grocery bills?
Posted October 12, 2026 6:18 pm.
Electronic shelf labels are making it easier for grocery stores to change prices. But experts say a bigger concern is whether retailers could eventually use personal data to determine how much individual customers pay.
“Surveillance pricing is very much about customizing a pricing strategy based on personal algorithms, individual digital profiles,” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab. “So depending on where you live, how much you make, how many cars you own, who you know, that’s really what surveillance pricing is.”
The idea is getting mixed reactions from Montrealers.
“I work in the tech industry, so I do know that they probably have a lot of information on us,” one Montrealer told CityNews.
Another shopper said he was less concerned.
“I’d say I’m okay with it. If a grocery store knows where I live, that’s fine with me.”
Surveillance pricing is different from dynamic pricing, where prices fluctuate based on factors such as demand and availability. Dynamic pricing has long been used by industries including airlines and hotels.
In grocery stores, electronic shelf labels can make changing prices more efficient. However, the labels themselves don’t mean shoppers are being charged personalized prices. Loblaw, Sobeys and Metro told CityNews they have no plans to use surveillance pricing.
Charlebois says the grocery industry’s tight margins could provide an incentive to find new ways of increasing revenue, but warns about the potential ethical implications.
“You are looking at an industry with very thin margins, so any way to increase margins would be welcome. But sometimes ethical lines are crossed, and we saw that with bread a few years ago.”
One Montrealer said she could see advantages to stores using customer information to tailor the products they carry, but would draw the line at broader uses of her personal information.
“I’m Indian. I eat a lot of Indian stuff. So if my nearest [grocery store] has Indian products, that will make me happy,” she said. “But them knowing my information other than that is not what I want.”
Charlebois says there is currently no evidence that Canadian grocery stores are using surveillance pricing. But with artificial intelligence playing a growing role in the industry, the food policy expert says surveillance pricing is something consumers and governments should keep an eye on.
“What worries me is that the ethical line could be crossed,” he said.
