$800 million in 2018, and profits of $3 billion. In August 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that Loblaws could not be held responsible for the Rana Plaza textile factory disaster which killed 1,130 people and seriously injured 2,520 others in Dhaka, Bangladesh. At the time, the garment factory was under an arm's length contract to manufacture items for Loblaws' Joe Fresh brand. In January 2020, it was reported that 800 employees were being laid off in Quebec and Ontario in 2021 when Loblaws switched to automated distribution at two of its major facilities. In May 2020, the franchise stated it would re-open service counters in the near future, after being closed for the COVID-19 pandemic. The company hiked employee pay in March 2020 for the coronavirus pandemic, upping wages by $2 per hour. The union Unifor criticized Loblaws for removing the pandemic pay bump in June 2020. Despite revenue growth, in July 2020, Loblaws reported that profits were down due to expenditures related to the pandemic. Starting September 1, 2020, it was announced that Loblaws and its associated company Shoppers Drug Mart were offering asymptomatic testing COVID-19 at all their pharmacies. See also Supermarkets in Canada References External links Robertstinnett.com – History of National Supermarkets Supermarkets of Canada Companies based in Brampton George Weston Limited Retail companies established in 1956 1956 establishments in Ontario Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX 60