Manitoba applauds Sobeys for changes to property controls but calls for more action

The Manitoba government said it’s encouraged by Sobeys’ move to stop using a measure that can limit competing businesses from operating at specific locations but wants the grocery giant to go further. 

Mintu Sandhu, the minister of public service delivery, said Sobeys parent company Empire Co. should remove all of its so-called restrictive covenants in the province. 

“This is a step in the right direction, but we believe more needs to be done,” Sandhu said on Wednesday. 

“I want to see those property controls gone completely.”

Empire outlined its approach in a new policy document released on Tuesday.

The company said it will no longer use or enforce property controls, which grocers and other retailers have used to prevent rivals from opening a store on or near an existing or former site. 

Restrictive covenants and other property controls such as exclusivity clauses have drawn attention from regulators, politicians and the general public in recent years as high food prices increase scrutiny of competition in the grocery industry. 

The provincial NDP government passed a law last year prohibiting the use of property controls in land sales. 

It previously said that all the big grocery chains except Sobeys dropped their property controls when legislation came into effect.

In April, the government announced it was bringing the issue to the province’s municipal board. 

Restrictive covenants at four Sobeys-owned locations were to go before the board. The matter is still pending. 

The province said Sobeys has 43 property controls that existed before legislative changes. One control extends into a nearby farmer’s field and another is to remain in place for decades. 

If Sobeys doesn’t drop all of its property controls registered in Manitoba, the government will continue challenging them, said Sandhu. 

“We will be writing another letter to Sobeys asking them to take those property controls off. Otherwise we are going to the municipal board.”

Sandhu’s office has previously requested a meeting with Empire to discuss the issue. He said he has not heard from the company since taking it to the municipal board. 

Sobeys did not respond to a request for comment. 

Empire’s policy shift comes as the Competition Bureau last month used a Federal Court order to broaden its probe into the company for its use of property controls countrywide. 

The court order granted the bureau access to additional information at a national level, such as how the grocer negotiates property controls and their effects on competition. 

The bureau said the investigation is ongoing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2026.