Merchants must respect certain rules when indicating the price on their products.

General rule: individual labelling

The merchant must indicate a price on each product or on the packaging of each product sold in his establishment.

Exceptions: prices in proximity of the product

Some items are exempted from the individual labelling rule. However, the merchant must still indicate their price in proximity of the product.

Here are the 13 categories of exempted goods:

• goods that cost less than $0.60;
• items sold in a vending machine;
• food not packaged before sale;
• unpackaged goods whose price is determined by a unit of measure, for example according to weight;
• goods that are sold at a lower price than the price usually offered at the same establishment, when the current price of these goods is displayed clearly and legibly close to the location where they are sold;
• goods that you can obtain by asking the merchant or one of his representatives for them, for example: goods stored in a closed display case or behind the counter;
• goods that are part of a pack, when the price of the pack is indicated or when the packaging on this pack must be used again by the manufacturer;
• goods that indicate a price that the merchant does not intend to change, for example: the price printed on the cover page of a magazine;
• frozen foods;
• goods that are so small in size that the price cannot be read clearly;
• unpackaged goods that are usually sold in bulk, excluding clothing;
• trees, plants and flowers;
• goods sold in a returnable container.

Exemption from the individual labelling rule

A merchant can opt out from indicating the price on each product. To do so, he must:

• use an optical scanner at the cash register;
• put optical scanners at the disposal of his customers if his establishment covers more than 697 m²;
• indicate the price and the description of the product on a label displayed on the shelf, next to the sold good. The label must measure between 9,67 cm² and 12,9 cm², under the terms provided for by law;
• if it applies to food, the label must indicate the price of the product per unit of measure, for example per litre or kilogram, and any feature liable to influence its price or distinguish it from other goods of the same nature;
• post the Price accuracy policy near each cash register and each optical scanner. If his establishment cover more than 697 m², he must also post the policy in a location that can be seen easily and use clear legible characters;
• give you a detailed sales slip with the name and telephone number of the establishment, the description and the price of the product, as well as the date of the transaction.

Particular cases

The price of the following products must always be labelled individually:

• clothing;
• items without bar codes.

This applies even if the merchant has opted out from the individual labelling rule and uses an optical scanner.