NDP moves to ban “surveillance pricing” gouging Canadians

OTTAWA — Today, NDP Leader Avi Lewis announced the tabling of a motion in Parliament to ban “surveillance pricing,” the use of personal data to charge Canadians different prices for the same products.

Surveillance pricing involves companies using data such as a person’s income, location, browsing history, or past purchases to determine how much they’re willing to pay. That can mean two customers shopping in the same store are charged different prices for the same item.

“Big Tech is teaming up with retailers, including grocery giants, to spy on Canadians and gouge them even more,” says NDP Leader Avi Lewis. “This is unfair. It’s a rip-off. And it’s downright creepy. The federal government must use all tools at its disposal to stop the practice dead in its tracks.”

The motion calls on the federal government to prohibit surveillance pricing both in-store and online.

Lewis adds that the motion is “a practical step the government can take right now to protect consumers and give Canadians real relief from the cost-of-living crisis.”

Earlier this year, the NDP government in Manitoba introduced a bill banning surveillance pricing, becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to do so.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Canada), which represents thousands of retail workers across Canada, says its members are already seeing the impact of these pricing practices on the ground.

“We cannot accept the growing use of algorithmic and predatory pricing to squeeze even more out of people at the checkout. These systems are designed to maximize profit, not fairness,” says Barry Sawyer, National President of UFCW Canada.

“We need clear rules to ensure that technology is used responsibly – not as a tool to exploit people, but to serve them,” Sawyer adds.

NDP Leader Avi Lewis says this motion is just one of many initiatives to come under his leadership to address the cost-of-living crisis.