In March 2023, Canada’s federal Competition Bureau (Bureau) launched a new competition law Compliance Portal (see: Consultation on new Compliance Portal).
In making its announcement, the Bureau said that it launched its new Compliance Portal to help businesses stay on the right side of Canadian competition and labelling laws and that its core principles about competition law compliance programs had not changed.
The Bureau’s new Compliance Portal replaces its former Corporate Compliance Programs Bulletin (Compliance Bulletin) that was updated in 2015 and until now had been its key compliance guidance relating to Canadian competition and advertising law compliance programs.
Overall, the Bureau’s new Compliance Portal is a more user-friendly and interactive online resource than its previous Compliance Bulletin.
It includes an overview of Canadian competition and packaging and labelling laws and compliance programs, the eight elements that the Bureau now currently considers to be necessary for a credible and effective competition law compliance program in Canada, guidance to comply with key provisions of the Competition Act, including Abuse of Dominance, Bid-Rigging, Conspiracies and mergers. It also includes hypothetical competition law compliance case studies.
The Bureau’s new Compliance Portal also includes compliance guidance for key misleading representation provisions of the Competition Act, including deceptive telemarketing, drip pricing, the general misleading advertising provisions, greenwashing, influencer marketing, ordinary selling price (OSP) claims, performance claims and promotional contests, as well as Canadian federal packaging and labelling legislation. See: Compliance Portal: Deceptive Marketing Practices.
In addition, the Bureau provides advertising law do’s and don’ts to comply with Canadian advertising/marketing laws and a hypothetical drip pricing case study.
The Bureau also summarizes the potential civil and criminal penalties for violating the deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act, which include criminal and civil monetary penalties, compensating consumers (i.e., restitution), orders to stop the conduct, publishing corrective notices and, in the case of criminal deceptive marketing, criminal fines and/or imprisonment.
For more information about these advertising/marketing practices under the Competition Act, see: Telemarketing, Drip Pricing, Misleading Advertising, Green Claims, Endorsements/Testimonials, OSP Claims and Sale Claims, Performance Claims and Promotional Contests.
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SERVICES AND CONTACT
We are a Toronto based Canadian competition and advertising law firm that helps clients in Toronto, Canada and the United States practically navigate Canada’s advertising and marketing laws and offers Canadian advertising/marketing law services in relation to print, online, new media, social media and e-mail marketing.
Our Canadian advertising/marketing law services include advice in relation to anti-spam legislation (CASL), Competition Bureau complaints, the general misleading advertising provisions of the federal Competition Act, Internet, new media and social media advertising and marketing, promotional contests (sweepstakes) and sales and promotions. We also provide advice relating to specific types of advertising issues, including performance claims, testimonials, disclaimers, drip pricing, astroturfing and native advertising.
For more information about our services, see: services
To contact us about a potential legal matter, see: contact
For more information about our firm, visit our website: Competitionlawyer.ca
