Six months after passing a law aimed at making it easier for new grocery stores to open, Manitoba's premier says lower grocery bills could be on the horizon.

"We could be the first province in Canada that actually has real competition in the grocery sector and people don't even know," Premier Wab Kinew said Friday.

A law given royal assent in the province this June bans new real estate deals signed by grocery stores and supermarkets that prevent similar stores from opening nearby.

The targeted property controls — known as restrictive covenants and exclusivity clauses — are common across Canada and raise "serious competition concerns" by their nature, according to guidance from the Competition Bureau of Canada.

Legal practice preventing competition near existing Manitoba grocery stores

See Full Page