March 14, 2010
On March 12, 2010, the Canadian Competition Bureau announced the coming into force of Canada’s new two-track conspiracy regime: “The Competition Bureau is pleased to announce that amended provisions of the Competition Act relating to competitor collaborations come into force today.
Changes to the conspiracy provision of the Competition Act will allow the Competition Bureau to enforce Canada’s anti-cartel law more effectively against serious offenders: those that agree to fix prices, allocate markets or restrict output. Other forms of agreements that may raise competition concerns will be reviewed under a new non-criminal provision. These changes remove the threat of criminal sanctions for legitimate collaborations to avoid discouraging firms from engaging in potentially beneficial alliances.
The changes were introduced by amendments to the Competition Act that received Royal Assent on March 12, 2009. The coming into force of these particular sections of the Act was delayed for one year to allow businesses time to adjust to the new law.
Businesses are encouraged to learn more about their responsibilities under the amended Act. To assist the public in understanding the changes to the Act, the Bureau has made a variety of resources available on its website, including guidelines about how the new law will be enforced.”
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I am a Toronto competition and advertising lawyer offering business and individual clients efficient and strategic advice in relation to competition/antitrust, advertising, Internet and new media law and contest law. I also offer competition and regulatory law compliance, education and policy services to companies, trade and professional associations and government agencies.
My experience includes advising clients in Toronto, Canada and the US on the application of Canadian competition and regulatory laws and I have worked on hundreds of domestic and cross-border competition, advertising and marketing, promotional contest (sweepstakes), conspiracy (cartel), abuse of dominance, compliance, refusal to deal, pricing and distribution, Investment Canada Act and merger matters. For more information about my competition and advertising law services see: competition law services.
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Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
