A Brampton, Ont., resident was arrested last week after police say he “price switched” items at self-checkouts across several Shoppers Drug Mart locations.
Guelph police reported that on Feb. 7, the man allegedly went to four Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Guelph, Ont., within a one-hour period.
At each, he took cases of baby formula valued at $97 each, but authorities say that instead of scanning that barcode at self-checkout, he switched it out to scan an item valued at less than $1. This is an example of price tag switching, which is illegal in Canada.
Guelph police said the Shoppers Drug Mart locations lost nearly $1,000.
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Authorities said they identified the suspect after photos were shared in a news release. The 24-year-old Brampton man was arrested on Friday, May 1, for seven counts of fraud under $5,000. He will appear in court on July 28, according to police.
Loblaw declined to comment because of the ongoing police investigation.
In March, a sign allegedly seen at Loblaw’s discount grocery store, No Frills, scolded shoppers for removing reduced price stickers from one item and putting them on another item that isn’t on sale.
The sign was shared on Reddit, garnering hundreds of comments.
“You can’t stop me from taking the ’50 per cent off, eat today’ from watermelon to put it on a PS5 box!” one comment joked.
According to Toronto-based criminal lawyer Mark Zinck, price tag switching, improper self-checkout activity, and false returns are all classified as fraud under $5,000 in the Criminal Code.
“When most people think of shoplifting, they think of someone sneaking an item under their jacket, but many cases are fraud allegations that the accused changed a price tag, obtained an improper discount,” he shared in an explainer on his site.
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He added that as of 2026, with the increased use of self-checkout kiosks, some shoppers are more tempted to manipulate price tags, improperly scan items or not scan them at all, and sneak unpaid products out of the store. Zinck said that, as a result, more Canadians are being charged with fraud under $5,000.
“Most of the cases we see come from Loblaws/Superstore, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Shoppers Drug Mart, Costco, and Walmart, but this is by no means an exhaustive list,” he noted.
Replies to the Reddit post weren’t denying the legality of the alleged act, but many argued that Loblaw, the corporation that owns No Frills, is doing a similar thing to customers.
“And what the f**k do you call fixing grocery prices? That’s theft!” reads one comment.
Loblaw routinely gets accused of price gouging, and even settled a bread price-fixing class action last year.