In Canada, it has to have existed. A "regular price" in an ad must pass one of two tests in the Competition Act, which the Competition Bureau enforces, and you can check most of what matters in about five minutes: the price history in Canadian dollars, the total at the last step of checkout, and the landed cost if the seller ships from the United States. An AI shopping assistant can do that legwork for you, as long as you ask it the right way.
What makes a "regular price" legal in Canada?
Under the Competition Act, a "regular" price must pass one of two tests. Volume: more than 50% of sales were at that price or higher within a reasonable period, usually a year. Time: the item was offered in good faith at that price or higher for a substantial period. Fail both, and the discount claim can be misleading.
The Competition Bureau restated both tests in a Black Friday warning to businesses on November 25, 2025, with a plain example: a store cannot advertise "$100, now $50" if the item never actually sold at $100. Good faith means the seller honestly expects customers to pay that regular price, not that it was posted for a weekend to set up a markdown.
The Bureau has enforced this against large retailers. In 2017, Amazon paid $1.1 million and changed its practices after the Bureau concluded that "list price" comparisons on amazon.ca, supplied by vendors and not verified, made prices look lower than the market. In 2019, Hudson's Bay agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle the Bureau's allegation that it advertised sleep sets at inflated regular prices and then promoted deep discounts from them.
Why can't a shopper prove a discount is fake?
You cannot see a retailer's sales, so you cannot run the volume test, which can even count sales made after the promotion. You can approximate the time test with public price history and compare the same model across Canadian stores. That is a strong signal, not proof, and it is enough to decide whether to buy today.
Here is what each check can and cannot tell you.
| Check | What it tells you | Where to look | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price history in CAD | Whether the "was" price was the usual price over the past 6 to 12 months | Price trackers that cover Canadian storefronts, such as camelcamelcamel and Keepa for amazon.ca | How many units actually sold at each price |
| Same model at two other Canadian retailers | Whether the reference price matches the market or only this store | Retailer sites, searched by exact model number | Whether a near-identical model number is really the same product |
| Total at the last checkout step | Whether fees appear that were not in the advertised price | The final screen before payment | Fees added after purchase, such as a courier's brokerage charge on import |
| Landed cost from a US seller | What duties and taxes add once the parcel crosses the border | The seller's shipping page and checkout | The exchange rate your card will use on the day it settles |
| Urgency claims | Whether a countdown or "only 3 left" is real | The same page checked again a few hours later | Nothing, if the timer has already reset once |
The urgency row matters more than it looks. The Bureau lists countdown timers that reset and low-stock claims that never change among the fake sales tactics it watches for, alongside inflated regular prices and bait and switch.
How do hidden fees change the real price?
Since 2022, the Competition Act names drip pricing as a deceptive practice: the price you see first must be a price you can actually pay. The only charges a seller can add later are fixed, mandatory government charges such as sales tax. A "service fee," "processing fee" or "online booking fee" that appears at checkout belongs in the advertised price.
This is not a theoretical rule. In 2024, the Competition Tribunal ordered Cineplex to pay $38.9 million over a $1.50 online booking fee added to tickets from June 2022 to December 2023, the amount it collected from customers. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld that decision on January 21, 2026. Cineplex applied to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal in March 2026, and as of October the Court had not decided whether to hear the case.
If you shop from Quebec, the rule is stricter still. The Office de la protection du consommateur requires an advertised price to include every amount you will pay except taxes such as the GST and QST, and it says you can demand the advertised price if the bill comes out higher.
What does a US deal really cost once it crosses the border?
For goods shipped by courier from the United States or Mexico, Canada charges no duty up to C$150 and no tax up to C$40, thresholds in effect under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, which entered into force on July 1, 2020. By mail, the limit stays at C$20. Above them, you pay sales tax at your province's rate (HST in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, GST plus QST or PST in Quebec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, GST alone in Alberta and the territories), and couriers often add a brokerage fee.
Take a hypothetical case: a US store lists an item your card converts to about C$180, shipped free by courier. That is above both thresholds, so tax applies and duty can too, depending on where the item was made. In Ontario, 13% HST alone adds C$23.40; in Quebec, GST and QST together add C$26.96, before any duty or brokerage fee. The "free shipping" price is now C$203 to C$207 plus fees, and a Canadian retailer's C$199 may be the better deal.
The Canada Border Services Agency's low-value shipment page sets these limits out by how the parcel travels and where it ships from: a courier parcel from any other country gets only the C$20 exemption. When a US seller adds duties and taxes as a line in the checkout total, it is usually collecting them up front, so you should not pay again at the door; keep the receipt in case the courier bills you anyway. When it says nothing, assume you will.
How do you get an AI shopping assistant to check a deal for you?
Give the assistant the exact model number, your province, the store and both prices, then ask for a dated price history in Canadian dollars, the same model at other Canadian retailers, the all-in total and the landed cost. Most important, ask it to say what it could not verify. A vague request gets a vague, often American, answer.
Here are requests that get a usable answer, in this order:
- •"I'm in Ontario. A Canadian retailer lists model XYZ-123 at $179, 'was $299.' Find what this exact model sold for at Canadian retailers over the last 6 to 12 months, in CAD, with a dated source for each price."
- •"Show the same model number at two other Canadian stores today. Flag any listing that is a different model number or a bundle."
- •"Was it ever actually sold at $299 for a sustained period? Answer yes, no or unclear, and say what your answer is based on."
- •"If I buy it from a US store instead, estimate the landed cost in CAD to Ontario by courier, including duty, HST and a typical brokerage fee, and say which of those the store collects at checkout."
- •"Tell me what you could not check."
Know where assistants fall short. They cannot see sales volume, so they can never confirm the volume test. Price histories have gaps, especially for marketplace sellers. They mix US and Canadian listings unless you insist on CAD and Canadian storefronts, and they sometimes cite a page that has since changed, which is why the request asks for dates.
The fifth request does the most work. An answer that says "I found prices for 7 of the last 12 months, all at Canadian retailers, and none at $299" is something you can act on. An answer that says "this is a great deal" with no dates is no more trustworthy than the banner you started with. To start from what you need instead of from a banner, describe it to Inception's search and name your province.
What does a five-minute check look like on a real banner?
Back to "Was $299, now $179." Suppose the price history shows $229 for most of the past year, $199 for six weeks in the summer, and $299 for the ten days before November 27. The time test looks doubtful, because ten days is not a substantial period, and your real saving is $50 off the usual $229, not $120.
Now check the total. The final checkout screen adds a $9.99 "handling fee" that was not in the advertised price. That is the kind of charge the drip pricing rule targets. Two other Canadian retailers list the same model number at $189 with no fee, and your $179 deal is really $188.99, roughly equal to the stores that never claimed a discount at all.
Buying it is still a fine decision if you need it. You are just buying a $189 item at about $189, not a $299 item at 40% off. If the regular price claim looks invented, take dated screenshots and send them through the Competition Bureau's online complaint form, linked from its fake sales and discounts page.
FAQ
When is Black Friday 2026 in Canada?
Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday, November 27, the day after American Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday follows on November 30. Many Canadian retailers start promotions earlier in November and run them through the weekend. A price that rises in the days just before the event is worth checking against its history.
Is it illegal in Canada to show a fake "regular price"?
Yes, a made-up regular price can be a deceptive marketing practice under the Competition Act. The reference price must pass either the volume test, more than half of sales at that price or higher, or the time test, offered in good faith at that price for a substantial period. Hudson's Bay agreed to pay $4.5 million in 2019 to settle one such case.
Does a Black Friday price have to be the lowest price of the year?
No law requires a sale price to be the lowest price of the year. The rules govern the "was" or "regular" price a store compares against, and whether fees are hidden from the advertised price. An item can be legally on sale and still have been cheaper in the summer, which is why price history matters more than the size of the discount.
What can I do if the checkout total is higher than the advertised price?
In Quebec, the Office de la protection du consommateur says you are entitled to pay the advertised price, and you can file a complaint with it. Anywhere in Canada, extra fees added at checkout can be reported to the Competition Bureau as drip pricing. Keep a screenshot of the advertised price and the checkout screen with the date visible.