In 1969, in response to Canadian and American competition, a consortium of four Quebec wholesalers merged their activities with the intent to save costs and establish services as a big company.

At first, Provigo was only the holding company that used three names for its grocery operations: Provigain, Provibec and Provipop, in addition to other banners outside the "Provi" designation.

It wasn't until the year 1980 that the Provigo name itself would become an actual store banner by replacing three of its grocery chains: Provigain, Jato and Aubaines Alimentaires.

[3] Provigo's chain of convenience stores Provi-Soir (est.1974) was not impacted by these rebrandings and retained its name until its merger with Couche-Tard in the late 1990s.

Acquisitions of Provigo over the years have included Les Aubaines alimentaires in 1972, Jato in 1975, Dionne in 1977, Dominion and Raymond in 1981, A&P Montréal in 1984 and Steinberg in 1992.

Also during those years, Provigo was facing ferocious competition from giant Steinberg to maintain its presence in the Quebec grocery industry.