Practical Law Canada Competition, of which I am Lawyer Editor, published a new Legal Update that discusses recent Canadian Competition Bureau enforcement and advocacy.
Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Legal Update.
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This Legal Update discusses recent enforcement and advocacy by the Competition Bureau. The Update includes recent civil and criminal enforcement, advocacy in key priority sectors and the Bureau’s involvement in recently announced federal government consultations to amend the Competition Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34, which were announced on November 24, 2022.
Over the past several months, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) has commenced enforcement and advocacy in a number of sectors, including digital marketing, health care, transportation, the green economy, retail grocery and snow removal. The Bureau has been particularly active in its recent competition advocacy efforts, which has included its ongoing participation in the modernization of Canada’s Competition Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34.
Some of the key recent Bureau enforcement and advocacy developments include:
Competition Act amendment consultations. On November 24, 2022, the federal government announced that it was launching consultations for a second round of amendments to the Competition Act following those that largely came into force on June 23, 2022 (see Consultation on the Future of Competition Policy in Canada, Government of Canada, November 24, 2022). The Bureau is participating in these consultations, including recommendations for Canadian competition law reform (see Competition Bureau of Canada Tweet, Twitter, November 17, 2022, and Examining the Canadian Competition Act in the Digital Era, Competition Bureau, February 8, 2022). These second-stage amendments, if they come into force, would be part of the most significant amendments to the Competition Act since 2009 and may include an overhaul of Canada’s merger efficiencies defence, which has been the subject of significant debate in the past several years.
For more information about the June 2022 amendments and potential stage II amendments, see Legal Updates: Sweeping Proposed Competition Act Amendments Introduced by The Federal Government, Competition Bureau Recommends Sweeping Competition Act Amendments and Commissioner of Competition Calls for Modernization of Canadian Competition Law.
Consumer and industry warnings for snow removal contracts. The Bureau issued tips for consumers relating to snow removal contracts, including reviewing the terms of contracts and how to detect potential price-fixing among competing snow removal companies (see Competition Bureau of Canada Tweet, Twitter, November 21, 2022). These tips follow a warning that the Bureau issued to the snow removal industry in August 2022 to comply with the Competition Act and in particular avoid any price-fixing agreements with competitors (see News Release, Snow Removal Businesses: Winter Is Coming, Competition Bureau, August 11, 2022). The Bureau has conducted criminal investigations in the Canadian snow removal sector in the past and now appears to be monitoring this industry on an ongoing basis for potential competition law violations.
For more information about conspiracy and bid-rigging under the Competition Act, see: Practice Note, Canadian Conspiracy (Cartel) Law, Practice Note, Canadian Bid-Rigging Law and Legal Update, Competition Bureau Enhances Bid-Rigging Enforcement Capabilities with New Collusion Risk Assessment Tool.
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For the full Legal Update, see: here.
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