Archive for the 'News' Category
February 13, 2020
Practical Law Canada, Competition has published a new Legal Update, which discusses the Competition Bureau’s new Strategic Vision report, which was released on February 11, 2020. The Bureau’s new Strategic Vision report focuses on the digital economy, including competition law issues in relation to the telecommunications, financial services, online marketing and infrastructure sectors.
January 24, 2020
In an interesting speech on January 22, 2020 by the Deputy Commissioner of Competition, Deceptive Marketing Practices Directorate, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) outlined its current digital marketing enforcement priorities (see: Honest Advertising in the Digital Age).
January 17, 2020
In an interesting and rather novel case, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) is reportedly investigating whether three major Canadian political parties (the Liberal, Conservative and NDP parties) violated the Competition Act in relation to their collection and use of Canadians’ personal information.
January 15, 2020
One of the most common questions that we see and answer in our practice is whether price gouging is an offence under Canadian competition law (e.g., under the federal Competition Act). This question often arises in relation to gas prices or other high-impact consumer products (e.g., telecom/wireless services or grocery stores).
January 12, 2020
Over the past several years, competition enforcement agencies have been increasing their scrutiny of false and misleading influencer marketing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initially led the charge in terms of guidance and enforcement, which included its Endorsement Guides, Endorsement Guides FAQs and warning letters to brands and influencers to improve their social media endorsement disclosures. This was accompanied by enforcement in some cases.
January 1, 2020
Practical Law Canada has published a New Legal Update, which discusses the Competition Bureau’s new guidelines for influencer advertising. While the Bureau’s new guidelines largely reiterate previous guidance provided by the Bureau, its announcement also suggests increasing scrutiny on not only influencers that fail to comply with the Competition Act, but also brands and agencies. In this regard, the Bureau issued close to 100 letters to brands and marketing agencies advising them to comply with the Competition Act. Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Legal Update at Practical Law.
September 10, 2019
In my new Canadian Lawyer column, I take a look at two recent U.K. ASA advertising decisions with potential implications for Canada. Below is an excerpt with a link to my column.
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In an interesting development, two ads were recently banned under new gender stereotyping in advertising rules recently implemented by the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA, the U.K.’s member-based independent advertising regulator, introduced its new gender stereotyping advertising rules in June after consultations with industry and a report entitled Depictions, Perceptions and Harm. The ASA’s new rule, which applies to all broadcast and non-broadcast media, including online claims and social media, prohibits gender stereotypes in advertising “that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence.”
August 22, 2019
Practical Law Canada has published a New Legal Update, which discusses key requirements of competition law compliance programs in Canada, in light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent shift to align its approach to recognizing compliance programs with Canada. Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Legal Update at Practical Law.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
