News release
Privacy Commissioner of Canada concludes investigation into complaints related to Loblaw loyalty program
March 5, 2026 – Gatineau, Quebec
Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne has issued the findings in an investigation into complaints against Loblaw Companies Ltd. related to the PC Optimum Loyalty Program.
Several complainants alleged that Loblaw did not delete their PC Optimum accounts after they requested it, and/or that it had not responded to inquiries about their deletion requests.
The investigation found that, while Loblaw had mechanisms in place for customers to request an account deletion or to raise privacy concerns, it took an unreasonable amount of time to address the requests, and also failed to respond to some privacy-related inquiries.
The investigation also found that Loblaw retained PC Optimum members’ purchase history after their account had been deleted and that the removal of personal identifiers such as names and email addresses was an insufficient measure to have in place. Loblaw did not demonstrate that it had adequate measures in place, namely to limit the risk that individuals could be identified.
During the investigation, Loblaw took steps to ensure that individuals’ privacy-related requests are responded to in a timely way going forward.
Loblaw agreed to implement the Commissioner’s recommendation aimed at ensuring that the company’s anonymization process be independently reviewed and that Loblaw implement any required risk mitigation measures.
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Media contact
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
communications@priv.gc.ca
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