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Federal Government Releases Proposed Bill relating to Fall Economic Statement – including Significant Competition Act Amendments

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Revised text of Bill C-56 Released

On November 27, 2023, the Federal Government passed a Notice of Ways and Means Motion to introduce a bill entitled An Act to implement certain provisions of the fall economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 21, 2023 and certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023, which was tabled on November 30, 2023 as Bill C-59 (the “Bill”). The Bill proposes amendments that implement some of the goals discussed in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement  to strengthen competition in Canada (as discussed in our previous blog post).…

Continue Reading Significant Competition Act Amendments on the Horizon

On November 21, 2023, the Federal Government released its 2023 Fall Economic Statement (the “Statement”). The Statement lays out the Federal Government’s multifaceted plan to improve housing in Canada, support the middle class, bolster the economy and create a stable financial sector. Additionally, the Statement outlines the Federal Government’s desire to strengthen competition in Canada through proposed amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”). More specifically, the Statement discusses changes aimed at combatting alleged dominance abuses by large companies, modernizing merger reviews, protecting consumers from misleading claims and enabling private entities to engage in legal proceedings related to anti-competitive practices. These changes, according to the Statement, “will help bring Canada into alignment with international best practices to ensure that our marketplaces promote fairness, affordability, and innovation.”…

Continue Reading Federal Government Releases Fall Economic Statement – with New Competition Act Amendments Previewed

On October 5, 2023, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) hosted a summit (the “Summit”) on competition law and policy in Canada. Among other things, the Summit included discussions focusing on Canada’s current economic landscape; the main barriers to competition in Canada; Canadians’ diverse perspectives on competition issues in Canada; and building a whole-of-government competition agenda.

This blog posts discusses a number of key themes and takeaways that emerged from the Summit, and which may inform the government’s approach  in the ongoing competition law reform process. Among other things, these themes included: (i) the need to implement an all of government approach regarding competition policy in Canada, (ii) lack of competitive intensity in Canada driven, in part, by regulatory barriers and burdens, and (iii) the need to modernize Canada’s competition laws.…

Continue Reading Takeaways from the Competition Bureau’s Competition Law Summit and Report on Competition

On September 20, 2023, the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (“ISED”) released a report summarizing the submissions received from the public relating to the ongoing competition law amendment consultation process (the “Consultation Report”).

By way of background, as discussed in our previous blog post, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, launched the much anticipated public consultation for potential amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”) on November 17, 2022. The call for public engagement highlighted that the review would focus on the role and functioning of the Act, the role and powers of the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”), the effectiveness of remedies and private redress mechanisms, addressing challenges of data and digital markets, and other pro-competitive policies.…

Continue Reading Public Consultation on Amendments to the Competition Act – Summary of Feedback

On September 18, 2023, Bill C-352, which was introduced by Jagmeet Singh (leader of the NDP), had its first reading in the House of Commons (the “Singh Bill”). On September 21, 2023, Bill C-56, which was introduced by Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance), also received its first reading in the House of Commons (the “Government Bill”). Each of these bills includes significant proposed amendments to the Competition Act in response to the ongoing public consultation and legislation review process regarding competition policy in Canada.

While each of the bills share some similarities (including, for example, the introduction of market study powers and removal of the efficiencies defence), the bills include a number of different proposals and the Singh Bill includes overall more substantive recommendations for amendments to Canada’s existing competition law regime.…

Continue Reading Proposed Amendments to the Competition Act receive first reading in House of Commons

In an unprecedented intervention by the European Commission (EC), the EC recently asserted jurisdiction over and challenged a United States-based merger that falls below the filing thresholds of the EC and each and every European Union Member State. This action threatens to subject future merger transactions with no material connection to European commerce to merger control by the EC. An extraordinary Statement of Concerns, signed-on by former senior competition law agency leaders and competition law experts from around the world, recently published in Concurrences highlights the harmful implications of the overreach by the EC for predictable global competition law enforcement.  Also, in another first, five former Competition Commissioners from Canada are jointly waving the red flag with respect to the EC’s disregard of well-accepted norms established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Competition Network (ICN) as well as longstanding jurisprudence concerning jurisdiction for the purpose of international merger review.…

Continue Reading Buyer Beware!  Aggressive Competition Watchdogs Trying to Block More International Deals – a cautionary tale from the Illumina-GRAIL merger challenge

On September 14, 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a public statement relating to issues of inflation, Canada’s middle class and competition policy. The statement was focused on measures which are aimed at reducing the cost of housing across Canada, supporting small businesses and addressing the escalating cost of groceries.…

Continue Reading Prime Minister Announces Proposed Competition Law Changes

On July 19, 2023, the United States Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice (together, the “Agencies”) released draft Merger Guidelines (the “Draft Guidelines”) for public comment. Once finalized, the Draft Guidelines, which are designed to help the public, business community, practitioners and courts understand how the Agencies identify potentially illegal mergers, will replace the US Horizontal Merger Guidelines issued in 2010 and the US Vertical Merger Guidelines issued in 2020.…

Continue Reading United States Antitrust Agencies Announce New Merger Guidelines: Overview and Implications for Canada

On June 27, 2023 the United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced proposed changes to the pre-merger notification process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (the “HSR Act”). These proposed changes were published on June 29, 2023.

By way of background, the HSR Act is federal legislation that requires merging parties to report transactions to the FTC and DOJ (together, the “US Agencies”) if the transaction meets certain monetary thresholds. Currently, when notifying a transaction under the HSR Act, parties need to supply relatively basic information, including information about the transaction, their respective businesses (including their subsidiaries, revenues and shareholders) and the competitive overlaps between their respective businesses. Merging parties may not close a notifiable transaction until a 30-day statutory waiting period (15 days in the case of a cash tender offer or a bankruptcy) expires or is terminated.…

Continue Reading FTC and DOJ Propose Changes to US Merger Filing Process

On November 17, 2022, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, launched the much anticipated public consultation for potential amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”). As discussed in our previous blog post, this consultation was intended to serve as a wide-ranging review of existing competition policy in Canada, including whether the Act is fit for purpose in a modern economy that continues to evolve quickly.…

Continue Reading Competition Bureau Recommends Significant Changes to Competition Act