The PR boost Loblaw got from signing on to a grocery code of conduct may have been short-lived, as the company is being ordered to pay $500 million for its part in a price-fixing scheme.

The class-action suit, first approved by an Ontario Superior Court judge in 2022, alleged consumers were overcharged to the tune of $5 billion over 16 years by a number of retailers, including competitors like Metro, Empire/Sobeys, Walmart Canada and Giant Tiger, each of which has denied any wrongdoing.

The $500 million settlement value was negotiated with the plaintiffs’ lawyers in a mediation presided over by the chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Last summer, after the investigation by the Competition Bureau, Canada Bread was fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price fixing. Loblaw chair Galen Weston said that “this behaviour should never have happened.”

“We have the privilege of serving Canadians from coast to coast,” Weston said. “Reaching a settlement on this matter was the right thing to do in response to previous behaviour that did not meet our values and ethical standards.”

The company had been in the crosshairs of grocery price complaints for months.

In June, Caddle consumer survey numbers revealed that nearly 3 in 10 of respondents were “actively participating” in the May boycott of Loblaw, which largely galvanized around a subreddit, that at the time of publication, boasts 92,000 members.

Loblaw’s PR nightmare continued this week, with an Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada investigating allegations that some PC Optimum members have been unable to delete their loyalty program accounts.

Today, Loblaw also reported Q2 numbers, with revenue of $13,947 million, an increase of $209 million or 1.5% in the same period last year.

The company also noted food inflation rates remain below Canada’s total household inflation rate, as Canada’s Consumer Price Index for Food Purchased From Stores declined for the sixth consecutive quarter.