Price matching is a store’s promise to sell you an item at a competitor’s lower advertised price. A price adjustment is the related promise to refund the difference when a price drops after you buy, usually only when the store lowers its own price. Some Canadian chains offer one, some offer both, and each sets its own rules on which competitors count, what proof it accepts and what it excludes. This page collects those rules in one table, taken from each store’s own policy page, then walks through what stores match, the usual exclusions and how a request works at the till. It is part of our smart spending guides.
Store price-match policies at a glance
Policies as posted by each store in October 2026. Stores can change these terms, several of them without notice, so the store’s own policy page (linked in the last column) has the current version.
| Store | What it offers | What it matches | Key limits | Policy page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Frills | Price Match | A major supermarket competitor’s current digital or print flyer, for the same low price | Competitors are the ones listed in your local store; up to 4 per item; excludes “Spend X Get X”, “Free”, exclusive email or online pricing offers and loyalty offers | No Frills Price Match |
| FreshCo | Lowest Price Guarantee | A discount supermarket competitor’s current flyer (print or digital), at 1ยข less | Competitor list varies by store; no competitor online pricing; 4 units per customer | FreshCo guarantees |
| Giant Tiger | Ad Match Guarantee | A local competitor’s current flyer, at 1 cent less | Excludes clearance, percentage discounts, private label, online offers and loyalty pricing | Giant Tiger Ad Match |
| The Home Depot | Price Guarantee, plus a 30-day adjustment on major appliances | A local Canadian store or website, or a Canadian online-only retailer | Identical, new and in stock at both; at the time of purchase only; not combined with a Home Depot coupon or promo code | Home Depot Price Guarantee |
| Staples | Price Match Guarantee | A current Canadian dated ad, catalogue page or competitor web page | Canadian authorized resellers selling directly (no marketplace sellers); within 30 days of receiving the item, 14 for electronics | Staples price match |
| Toys “R” Us | Price Match and Price Adjustment | Only the retailers on its list, including Amazon.ca and Walmart.ca when the item is sold and shipped by them | Identical by product name, appearance and UPC; photos of in-store prices not accepted | Toys “R” Us policy |
| Costco | Price adjustment only | No matching: Costco.ca does not price match warehouse or other retailers’ pricing | Costco.ca orders: credit if its price drops within 30 days; warehouse purchases: ask at the membership counter | Costco.ca price adjustment |
Other chains, including Walmart Canada, Real Canadian Superstore, Best Buy and Canadian Tire, set their own rules; the store’s website or customer service desk has the current version.
What stores match
Flyer prices. The grocery policies are built around the weekly flyer. No Frills matches a “major supermarket competitor” listed in your local store, FreshCo a “discount supermarket competitor” in the store’s trade area, and Giant Tiger a local competitor in each store’s market trading area. FreshCo and Giant Tiger go one step further than matching: they sell the item for one cent less than the competitor’s advertised price. FreshCo also states that its guarantee does not apply to banners owned, operated or franchised by Sobeys Capital Incorporated.
Online prices. The grocery policies mostly leave online prices out. No Frills excludes exclusive email or online pricing offers, FreshCo’s guarantee does not apply to competitor e-commerce platforms or online pricing, and Giant Tiger excludes online offers. The general retailers are broader: The Home Depot matches a local Canadian store’s website or a Canadian online-only retailer, Staples accepts a competitor web page, and Toys “R” Us matches the online retailers on its list. Marketplace and third-party sellers are excluded at all three, so an Amazon.ca listing counts only when Amazon.ca itself sells it (Staples and Toys “R” Us both spell this out).
The same item. Every policy requires an identical product. No Frills asks for the same brand, type, size and measurement; FreshCo the same brand, size and attributes; The Home Depot the same brand, model and size; Staples the same model number, components and warranty; and Toys “R” Us the same product name, appearance and UPC. No Frills and FreshCo also match comparable items in the case of private label (FreshCo: a competitor’s private label product of the same size and attributes). Giant Tiger excludes private label products and only matches produce sold by the bag or package, not by weight.
Their own price drops. Matching a competitor and adjusting for the store’s own lower price are separate promises. Toys “R” Us adjusts when it lowers the price within 30 days of purchase, and Costco.ca credits the difference on online orders. The Home Depot’s 30-day adjustment covers major appliances only, and only when its own price drops. More on these in the price adjustment section below.
Common exclusions
The fine print differs by store, but the same exclusions come up again and again:
- Clearance and close-outs. Giant Tiger, FreshCo, The Home Depot, Staples and Toys “R” Us all exclude clearance pricing in some form.
- Multi-buy and free offers. No Frills and FreshCo exclude “spend x get x” and “free” promotions; Giant Tiger excludes combination promotions such as buy two, get one free.
- Loyalty and member pricing. No Frills excludes loyalty offers including PC Optimum member pricing, FreshCo excludes discounts obtained through loyalty or other customer programs, and Giant Tiger excludes member level pricing.
- Advertising errors. Every store in the table that addresses misprints excludes them: a typo in a competitor’s ad is not matched.
- Rebates, gift cards and bonus offers. The Home Depot excludes rebates, free gifts with purchase and gift cards, and Toys “R” Us excludes rebates and free or bonus offers. Staples excludes instant rebates and gift-card discounts, but when a competitor includes a bonus item or a free gift card with a product, it matches the price and provides the identical bonus item where possible, or a gift card of the same value.
- Special sale events. Staples does not match ads for special events such as Black Friday and Boxing Day or Boxing Week, and Toys “R” Us leaves those event prices out of its price adjustments.
- Quantity limits. No Frills and FreshCo cap a match at four units of an item; Giant Tiger, Staples and The Home Depot reserve the right to limit quantities.
- Departments run by others. No Frills excludes gas stations and the pharmacy, and FreshCo excludes in-store third-party vendors, prescriptions, gift cards, liquor and tobacco.
Price adjustments after you buy
A price adjustment refunds the difference when the price falls after the purchase. The rules are narrower than for matching:
- The Home Depot: a price adjustment if the price of a major appliance bought there drops within 30 days of the purchase date, at your local store or on homedepot.ca. A competitor’s price drop doesn’t count, and other price matches are available only at the time of purchase.
- Toys “R” Us: a price adjustment if it lowers the price within 30 days of purchase, with the original receipt; it does not adjust to another retailer’s price. When a competitor price match is applied after purchase, the difference is refunded within 14 days of the original purchase, also with the original receipt.
- Staples: a price match within 30 days of receiving the item, or 14 days for electronics.
- Costco: Costco.ca credits the difference if its online price drops within 30 days of the order; for a warehouse purchase, the membership counter at the warehouse where you bought the item handles the request.
The grocery policies in the table describe matching at the till rather than refunds after the fact.
How to ask for a price match
The steps are similar everywhere:
- Bring proof of the current price. No Frills, FreshCo and Giant Tiger take the competitor’s print or digital flyer. The Home Depot accepts a flyer, printout, website link or photo of the lower price. Toys “R” Us wants the competitor’s website or ad showing the effective date and does not accept photos of in-store prices. No Frills won’t match an ad with missing information, such as no size or date.
- Find the identical item. Check brand, size and model or UPC against the ad, since a different size or variety won’t qualify.
- Ask before the item is scanned. No Frills asks you to show the cashier the complete advertisement, with valid dates, before the item is scanned. The Home Depot asks for the proof at checkout, and Giant Tiger has the cashier approve the flyer at the till.
- For online orders, contact the store first. The Home Depot asks online shoppers to contact Customer Support before buying, and Giant Tiger handles online-only items through its Customer Service Team with your order number and a link to the competitor’s price.
Price matching and other ways to save
Price matching can save a trip to a second store, and it is one tool among several. Coupons and promo codes are covered in our guide to coupon sites and apps in Canada; Home Depot, for one, lets you use either a price match or one of its coupons, not both. To see which chains start out cheaper, compare the best-value grocery stores in Canada, and for habits that cut the bill wherever you shop, see ways to save on groceries.