Archive for the 'Competition Law' Category
April 29, 2023
On April 28, 2023, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that Terry Croteau, a Canadian telemarketer, was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison and to pay a fine of $1.28 million for running a fraudulent online directory scam (see: here). See also: 30 Months in jail and $1.28 million restitution ordered in online business directories case.
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).
March 28, 2023
Practical Law Canada Competition, of which I am Lawyer Editor, has published a new Legal Update that discusses the Competition Bureau’s submission to the Canadian government in response to the government’s public consultation on amendments to the Competition Act.
Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Legal Update.
March 16, 2023
On March 15, 2023, Canada’s federal Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that it had launched a new competition law Compliance Portal (see: Consultation on new Compliance Portal).
March 9, 2023
On March 8, 2023, Toronto’s CityNews reported that some entrants into Tim Hortons (Tim’s) iconic Canadian Roll Up To Win contest were notified via Tim’s app that they had won a $10,000 American Express pre-paid card, when the notification was the result of a technical error (see: Roll Up To Win players upset after $10K AMEX card win was result of technical error).
February 20, 2023
On February 20, 2023, the Canadian Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that it had obtained a court order (presumably an order under section 11 of the Competition Act) in relation to potential abuse of dominance conduct engaged in by a Quebec real estate board (the Quebec Professional Association for Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB)). See: Competition Bureau obtains court order to advance an investigation of competition in Quebec real estate services market. For more information about Bureau investigations and compulsory production orders, see: Competition Law Enforcement.
February 15, 2023
A promotional contest law question we commonly receive is whether Canadian contest/sweepstakes laws apply if a contest is only open to a company’s or other organization’s employees or personnel. These types of contests/sweepstakes are sometimes called “closed loop” contests or promotions because they are not open to the general public and only internal personal of a company or other type of organization can enter and participate.