The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Feb. 7, edition that Canadian Tire has pleaded guilty to charges of false advertising in Quebec and will pay a $1.29-million fine. The Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes that Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) announced the result after a court hearing in Montreal on Friday. The OPC had filed 74 charges against Canadian Tire for misleading advertising over a six-month period in 2021. The fine includes legal costs. The province's Consumer Protection Act forbids companies from advertising products as being on sale, if the prices of those products are not actually discounted. The OPC found that for seven targeted products it examined, which Canadian Tire advertised on sale, "the products were sold at the regular price in only a very small proportion of cases." The OPC examined prices shown in Canadian Tire's flyers and on its website, as well as in three of its stores in the Greater Montreal area. The retailer admitted guilt related to ads for five of those products: knife sets sold under the Henckels and Cuisinart brands, a Dewalt cordless drill, and Lagostina and Heritage cookware sets. Canadian Tire said the matter is now concluded.