June 26, 2025
On June 25, 2025, Canada’s Competition Bureau issued a News Release warning landlords and property managers not to engage in criminal conspiracy agreements under the federal Competition Act (see: Landlords and property managers: agreeing with competitors on rental prices is illegal).
In making the announcement, the Competition Bureau said:
“The Competition Bureau is aware that some landlords and property managers may be engaging with their competitors, including through discussion groups on social media.
While some discussions between competitors may be justified, others could be illegal. Landlords and property managers must understand the difference between conversations that are harmless and conversations that they should steer clear from.
Agreements between landlords to ‘make the most of the booming rental housing market’ or ‘find ways to ensure that all players benefit from the strong demand equally’ raise concerns under the law and could be illegal.”
The Competition Bureau cautioned real estate landlords and property managers that it was illegal under the conspiracy provisions of the Competition Act (section 45) to enter into agreements relating to rental prices (including increases or surcharges), the terms of leases (including amenities and services) or restricting the housing supply by artificially reducing the availability of rental units.
OVERVIEW OF THE CONSPIRACY PROVISIONS
OF CANADA’S FEDERAL COMPETITION ACT
In this regard, section 45 of Canada’s federal Competition Act makes the following three types of criminal conspiracy agreements between competitors per se illegal (i.e., with no adverse impacts on a market required to be proven):
1. Price-fixing agreements. Agreements to fix, maintain, increase or control the price for the supply of a product.
2. Market allocation/division agreements. Agreements to allocate sales, territories, customers or markets for the production or supply of a product.
3. Output/supply restriction agreements. Agreements to fix, maintain, control, prevent, lessen or eliminate the production or supply of a product.
In addition, as a result of June 2022 amendments to the Competition Act, wage-fixing and no poach agreements between employers (i.e., agreements to fix employee wages or no to solicit or hire each others’ employees) are also now criminal offences under section 45. Other types of agreements between competitors are potentially subject to review under a second and separate non-criminal reviewable matters provision (section 90.1). For more information, see: Conspiracy (Cartels).
The potential penalties for violating the criminal conspiracy provisions of the Competition Act are severe and include fines in the discretion of the court (i.e., with no prescribed statutory limit), imprisonment for up to 14 years, or both.
EXCHANGES OF COMPETITIVELY SENSITIVE INFORMATION
It is also worth noting in this case that the Competition Bureau suggests that some Canadian real estate landlords or property managers may be discussing anti-competitive topics by way of social media. In this regard, under the Competition Act, a criminal conspiracy agreement under section 45 of the Act can be established based on merely circumstantial evidence (e.g., based on evidence of communications of anti-competitive topics that result in raised prices or price stabilization).
As such, it is generally important for competitors, including in the context of trade and professional associations or other fora (including digital platforms) where competitors meet and interact, to avoid the discussion of competitively sensitive information and follow the guidelines set out in their competition law compliance programs or, at a minimum, to adopt and follow conduct of meeting guidelines and/or information exchange guidelines. For more information, see: Association Compliance, Compliance and Information Exchanges.
THE COMPETITION BUREAU’S INVESTIGATION
While it is not clear from the Competition Bureau’s News Release how it obtained information that real estate landlords and/or property managers in Canada may be engaging in illegal conspiracy conduct, or in which Canadian markets, the Bureau has a broad range of avenues to obtain information for potential investigations and prosecutions.
These include via industry or consumer complainants, whistleblowers, Immunity Program or Leniency Program applicants or based on its own market investigations.
It remains to be seen whether the Competition Bureau has commenced any formal investigation or whether it will seek any criminal prosecutions in this case.
The Competition Bureau has, however, as is its practice with similar announcements, encouraged anyone with information to contact it (e.g., complainants or whistleblowers) and provided information about its Immunity and Leniency Programs.
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