Our methodology

Flyers: collected every Thursday

Every Thursday — the day Quebec merchants renew their flyers — our system collects the flyers published by retailers (grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, big-box stores) directly from their official publications. Products, prices and discounts are extracted automatically, page by page. A flyer stays visible until the validity period stated by the merchant has ended.

When an extraction leaves any doubt (ambiguous price, discount inconsistent with the regular price), the product is flagged for review: its discount is hidden rather than showing a questionable number. We apply no arbitrary cap on discounts — a real 90% stays a 90%.

Price history: our most valuable asset

For more than 100,000 grocery and big-box products, we keep every weekly reading: store, week, regular price and promotional price. Nothing is deleted. That is what answers the real question: "is this 4.99 $ special a deal, or just the usual price?" The full curve is visible on every food item page and in the comparator.

The price retained for a given week is what the customer actually pays: the promotional price when there is one, otherwise the regular price.

Update frequency

The limitations, stated plainly

• A flyer price is valid for its publication week: it changes every Thursday and should never be quoted as permanent.
• Prices can vary by region or by store; the merchant's flyer is authoritative.
• Extraction is automated: despite our safeguards, an error remains possible. Each item links back to the original flyer for verification.
• We do not sell flyer products and are not paid by merchants to display them.

Who writes the articles?

The blog's guides and comparisons are produced by the aubaine.ca team, under the direction of Marcel Dupont, founder of the site and of the annonce.ca network. Numbers come from our own price data or from verifiable public sources (government bodies, merchants' official sites), never from invented estimates. When a precise number cannot be verified, we state it as an order of magnitude.

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