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Peter Mangaly

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In the March 30, 2023 comments submitted by Fasken[1] in response to the Government of Canada’s consultation and discussion paper[2] on the Future of Competition Policy in Canada (the “Discussion Paper”), significant concerns are raised about any amendments that move away from identifying anti-competitive conduct through evidence-based assessment of its effects and which would establish ex ante regulation to place blanket prohibitions on certain types of conduct by certain firms. In a paper recently published by the Competition Policy International[3], we examine the international and Canadian debate around ex ante regulations for Big Tech platform companies. The paper explores the need for and costs associated with ex ante regulation and concludes that pursuing such regulations at this time in Canada would be ill-advised.Continue Reading Canada Should Avoid Costly Ex Ante Regulation of Digital Markets

The Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) recently released a new volume of its Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest (the “Digest”). The purpose of the Digest is to provide businesses with guidance on how to comply with the Competition Act (the “Act”) when marketing their products and services, and each volume focuses on a few specific types of advertising practices. This sixth edition of the Digest discusses two main topics: (i) the use of scarcity cues in online marketing and (ii) drip pricing and other types of variable fees.Continue Reading Competition Bureau Releases Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest: Volume 6

On June 23, 2022, Bill C-19, also known as the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No.1 (“BIA”), received royal assent. As discussed in more detail in our previous blog post, the BIA included significant amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”), including the addition of new criminal cartel provisions prohibiting so-called wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements, which will become effective as of June 23, 2023. More specifically, these provisions will prohibit agreements between unaffiliated employers to either “fix, maintain, decrease or control salaries, wages or terms and conditions of employment” or “not solicit or hire employees”.Continue Reading Competition Bureau Issues Draft Guidelines on Wage-Fixing and No-Poaching Agreements: What You Need to Know

As discussed in our previous blog post, on November 17, 2022, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, launched the much anticipated public consultation on the second stage of potential amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”).
Continue Reading Unilateral Conduct – Changes on the Horizon?

Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne (the “Minister”), announced on December 7, 2022 his commitment to protecting Canada’s economic and national security. Focused on key sectors such as critical minerals and artificial intelligence, the Minister tabled Bill C-34, the National Security Review of Investments Modernizations Act, (“Bill C-34”) which significantly amends the Investment Canada Act (the “Act”) for the first time since national security provisions were introduced in 2009. Bill C-34 is directed at modernizing the Act to better guard  against economic-based security threats that may arise from foreign investment and streamlining the existing national security review process. The amendments aim to enhance transparency, support greater investor certainty, improve Canada’s visibility on investments, and ensure that Canada is prepared to take action quickly where required.
Continue Reading Canada Announces Significant National Security Changes to Investment Canada Act

On June 23, 2022, significant amendments were made to the Competition Act (the “Act”). Our previous blog post discusses these amendments in detail. Among other things, the proposed amendments added to the list of the factors enumerated in the Act that the Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) may consider under the abuse of dominance, merger review and civil competitor collaboration provisions when determining whether a practice, merger or agreement prevents or lessens competition substantially.
Continue Reading POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF “NEW” SLPC FACTORS IN THE COMPETITION ACT