2010 ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM February 24, 2011 LOBLAW COMPANIES LIMITED 2010 ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM TABLE OF CONTENTS FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ............................................................................................... 3 CORPORATE STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................. 4 Incorporation ................................................................................................................................................ 4 Intercorporate Relationships ........................................................................................................................ 4 GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUSINESS ............................................................................. 5 Renewal Plan ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Products and Services .................................................................................................................................. 6 Control Label Program ................................................................................................................................ 7 Supply Chain ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Labour and Employment Matters ................................................................................................................ 9 Financial Performance ............................................................................................................................... 10 Information Technology ............................................................................................................................ 10 Acquisition of T&T Supermarket .............................................................................................................. 11 DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS .................................................................................................... 12 Operations .................................................................................................................................................. 12 Geographic and Banner Summary ............................................................................................................. 13 Competitive Conditions ............................................................................................................................. 14 Customers .................................................................................................................................................. 15 Products and Services ................................................................................................................................ 15 Intellectual Property ................................................................................................................................... 17 Information Technology ............................................................................................................................ 17 Supply Chain .............................................................................................................................................. 18 Seasonality ................................................................................................................................................. 18 Foreign Operations ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Colleagues .................................................................................................................................................. 18 Lending ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 Environmental, Health and Safety Matters ................................................................................................ 19 Corporate Social Responsibility................................................................................................................. 20 Food Safety, Public Health and Labelling ................................................................................................. 20 Privacy and Ethics ..................................................................................................................................... 21 Risks and Risk Management ...................................................................................................................... 21 CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND MARKET FOR SECURITIES ......................................................... 22 Share Capital .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Share Trading Price and Volume ............................................................................................................... 23 Credit Ratings ............................................................................................................................................ 24 DIVIDENDS ............................................................................................................................................. 27 Loblaw Companies Limited 1 2010 Annual Information Form DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS ............................................................................................................. 27 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ....................................................................................................................... 31 MATERIAL CONTRACTS ................................................................................................................... 31 TRANSFER AGENTS AND REGISTRARS ........................................................................................ 31 EXPERTS ................................................................................................................................................. 31 AUDIT COMMITTEE INFORMATION ............................................................................................. 31 EXTERNAL AUDIT FEES .................................................................................................................... 32 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................................... 33 APPENDIX “A” – AUDIT COMMITTEE CHARTER Loblaw Companies Limited 2 2010 Annual Information Form FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This Annual Information Form (“AIF”) for Loblaw Companies Limited contains forward-looking statements about the Company’s objectives, plans, goals, aspirations, strategies, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, performance, prospects and opportunities. Words such as “anticipate”, “expect”, “believe”, “foresee”, “could”, “estimate”, “goal”, “intend”, “plan”, “seek”, “strive”, “will”, “may” and “should” and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company and its management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect the Company’s current expectations concerning future results and events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to: the possibility that the Company’s plans and objectives will not be achieved; changes in economic conditions including the rate of inflation or deflation and changes in interest and currency exchange rates; changes in consumer spending and preferences; heightened competition, whether from new competitors or current competitors; changes in the Company’s or its competitors’ pricing strategies; failure of the Company’s franchised stores to perform as expected; failure to realize sales growth, anticipated cost savings or operating efficiencies from the Company’s major initiatives, including investments in the Company’s information technology systems, supply chain investments and other cost reduction initiatives, or unanticipated results from these initiatives; increased costs relating to utilities, including electricity and fuel; the inability of the Company to successfully implement its infrastructure and information technology components of its plan; the inability of the Company’s information technology infrastructure to support the requirements of the Company’s business; the inability of the Company to manage inventory to minimize the impact of obsolete or excess inventory and to control shrink; failure to execute successfully and in a timely manner the Company’s introduction of innovative and reformulated products or new and renovated stores; the inability of the Company’s supply chain to service the needs of the Company’s stores; failure to achieve desired results in labour negotiations, including the terms of future collective bargaining agreements, which could lead to work stoppages; changes to and failure to comply with the legislative/regulatory environment in which the Company operates, including failure to comply with environmental laws and regulations; the adoption of new accounting standards and changes in the Company’s use of accounting estimates; fluctuations in the Company’s