On February 11th, the Competition Bureau published its Strategic Vision for 2020-24. Titled “Competition in the Digital Age”, this document outlines how the Bureau plans to deliver the benefits of competition to Canadians over the next four years in today’s rapidly changing digital economy.
The Strategic Vision includes three key themes
Overview of the administration of the Investment Canada Act
While there are a number of federal and provincial statutes that are sector-specific and that limit foreign investment in Canada, the Investment Canada Act (“ICA”) is the only statute of general application in Canada that provides for the review and approval of foreign investments.
In August 2019, Genworth Financial, Inc. (Genworth) announced that it had agreed to sell its approximate 57% shareholding in Canadian subsidiary Genworth MI Canada Inc. (Genworth Canada) to Canadian headquartered Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (Brookfield) for approximately C$2.4 billion. Genworth Canada, through one of its subsidiaries, is Canada’s largest
On June 17, 2019 the Competition Bureau announced that it is challenging Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Aucerna, a company that offers valuation and reporting software to Canadian oil and gas producers.
The fact that the Competition Bureau is challenging the transaction after it has been completed suggests that the transaction was not subject to pre-merger
On March 31, 2016, the Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) published the long-awaited update to its Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines (“IPEGs”). According to the Bureau, the aim of the updated IPEGs is threefold. They:
Increases to the merger notification thresholds under the Competition Act and the investment review threshold under the Investment Canada Act have been announced.
As published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on February 7, 2015, the pre-merger notification threshold relating to transaction-size for 2015 has increased to $86 million from the 2014
On December 9, 2014, Bill C-49, the Price Transparency Act, received first reading in the House of Commons. It proposes to amend the Competition Act in two respects. First, it proposes price transparency measures, pursuant to which the Commissioner of Competition is (i) authorized to conduct inquiries to determine why a product or
On July 3, 2014, the Commissioner of Competition announced that changes to the Competition Bureau’s Corporate Compliance Programs Bulletin are planned. The Bulletin was last amended in 2010 to address the 2009 and 2010 amendments to the Competition Act.
Areas under consideration for updating include:
Generally higher Canadian (compared to U.S.) retail prices have from time to time been a concern for Canadian consumers. This concern appeared to become more acute over the course of the last decade as the Canadian dollar moved more or less to parity with the U.S. dollar (although more recently the Canadian dollar has dipped
Increases to the merger notification thresholds under the Competition Act and the investment review threshold under the Investment Canada Act have been announced.
Competition Act
On January 20, 2014, the Competition Bureau announced that the pre-merger notification threshold relating to transaction-size for 2014 will increase to $82 million from the 2013 threshold of $80 million.
