Canada ‘actively monitoring’ new coronavirus variants Ontario’s provincewide lockdown begins today, joining Quebec and Manitoba in closing non-essential retail, while much of the rest of the country has curtailed in-store capacity.Despite the restrictions forcing most shopping online, industry watchers say retailers are still expected to offer some deep discounts in a bid to raise cash.Farla Efros, president of HRC Retail Advisory, says there will be fire-sale prices on some items.She says retailers don’t want to get stuck with a backlog of holiday and seasonal inventory and also need to shore up their balance sheets in the face of mounting lockdowns and restrictions..