Archive for the 'Amendments' Category
December 16, 2023
On December 15, 2023, significant amendments to Canada’s federal Competition Act were passed, including important changes to Canada’s abuse of dominance (federal monopoly) law. This post discusses the December 2023 amendments in general and the key changes to the abuse of dominance provisions of the Competition Act in particular under sections 78 and 79.
October 19, 2023
On October 19, 2023, Canada’s Competition Bureau (Bureau) released a new report of competitive intensity in Canada between 2000 and 2020 (see: Competition Bureau report finds Canada’s competitive intensity in decline).
September 26, 2023
On September 25, 2023, the Federal Court (Court), in Sunderland v. Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, 2023 FC 1293, per Crampton C.J., issued an important decision in a Canadian price-fixing conspiracy related class action against The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) and a number of Canadian real estate brokerages and franchisors.
June 24, 2023
On June 21, 2023, Canada’s federal Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that Canada Bread had been sentenced by the Ontario Superior Court to a CDN $50 million fine after pleading guilty to fixing wholesale bread prices in Canada.
This recent Canadian criminal price-fixing fine is the highest price-fixing fine imposed by a Canadian court to date. For more information, see: Canada Bread sentenced to $50 million fine after pleading guilty to fixing wholesale bread prices (June 21, 2023). For more information about criminal price-fixing under the Competition Act in Canada, see: Conspiracy (Cartels).
May 21, 2023
On June 23, 2023, criminal amendments to the Competition Act will come into force. These amendments were enacted on June 23, 2022, as part of Bill C-19, the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No.1.
They introduced sweeping amendments to Canada’s federal Competition Act, including significant increases to the civil and criminal penalties, new prohibitions on drip pricing and expansion of private right of access to the Competition Tribunal for abuse of dominance, among other things. For more information, see: Sweeping Canadian Competition Act Amendments Passed.
May 3, 2023
On May 2, 2023, Canada’s Globe and Mail published an opinion by Canada’s Commissioner of Competition (Commissioner), Matthew Boswell, arguing that key Canadian consumer markets are highly concentrated and urging for another new round of Competition Act reform.
In this regard, in general, the Commissioner argues that Canada has had a long history of concentration and monopolization in key sectors, including transportation, telecom and banking, and that legislative reform has for the most part resisted increasing competition.
April 21, 2023
On April 17, 2023, Canada’s Competition Bureau (Bureau) published its new Annual Plan (see: 2023-2024 Annual Plan: Driving Competition Forward For All Canadians).
April 17, 2023
On April 17, 2023 the Competition Bureau (Bureau) published a new edition of its Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest (Volume 6) (Marketing Digest).
The Bureau’s new Marketing Digest discusses three Canadian advertising/marketing law related topics: the use of scarcity cues (i.e., claims that an offering has limited availability), drip pricing and its recent presidency of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
