Geoff Nixon · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2026 6:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Customers at Loblaw-connected stores in multiple provinces were advised of interruptions to credit and debit systems on Friday afternoon, though the company says the reported issues have since been resolved.

In an emailed statement, Loblaw did not specify the extent of the outages that occurred on Friday or their cause.

"Some stores in our network experienced an outage with payment systems this afternoon, and the issue has now been resolved," the company told CBC News late Friday afternoon.

Some local stores alerted customers to the disruption via social media posts — and the fact that the debit system was available again to customers later in the afternoon.

"Attention Customers," read a message posted late Friday afternoon on the Facebook page of Lisa's Independent in Kentville, N.S. "The debit and credit systems are currently down due to technical difficulties."

The Nova Scotia store soon after posted a followup message saying that "we are back up and running."

Similar messages calling down the notice of debit outages were posted to Facebook by Your Independent Grocer-brand stores in Doaktown, N.B., Haliburton, Ont., and Espanola, Ont., as well as in Yellowknife.

Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Badger's Quay, N.L., and in Kimberley, B.C., likewise reported outages via their Facebook pages on Friday. Staff at both stores confirmed by phone that those services had resumed since the messages were posted.

Your Independent Grocer stores are among the family of Loblaw's food brands. Shoppers Drug Mart is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited.

Other brands in the Loblaw family include No Frills, Real Canadian Superstores, T&T and Loblaw stores, among others.