May 15, 2023
Practical Law Canada Competition, of which I am Lawyer Editor, has published a new Legal Update that discusses the Competition Bureau’s new online Competition Compliance Portal, which replaces its former Corporate Compliance Programs Bulletin.
Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Legal Update.
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This Legal Update discusses the Competition Bureau’s (Bureau) new Compliance Portal, which updates its competition law compliance program guidance from its former Corporate Compliance Programs Bulletin. The Update discusses the Bureau’s new Compliance Portal, key changes from its former compliance program guidance and compliance implications for companies and other organizations that need to comply with Canadian competition laws.
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On March 15, 2023, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that it had launched a new competition law Compliance Portal (see Consultation on new Compliance Portal).
In making the announcement, the Bureau said that it was launching its new Compliance Portal to help businesses stay on the right side of Canadian competition and labelling laws and that its core principles about competition law compliance programs had not changed. For more information about competition law compliance programs, see:
- Practice Note, Competition Law Compliance Programs.
- Competition Law Audit Checklist for Trade Associations.
- Competition Law Compliance Audit Checklist.
- Conduct of Meetings Checklist.
- Cooperating with Competitors Checklist.
- Information Exchange Checklist.
- Trade Association Participation Checklist.
The Bureau’s new Compliance Portal replaces its former Corporate Compliance Programs Bulletin (Compliance Bulletin), which was issued in 2015 and had previously been its core guidance about Canadian competition law compliance programs.
The Bureau’s former Compliance Bulletin provided more comprehensive competition compliance guidance than the Bureau had issued before. It included a discussion of the seven essential elements that were then, in the Bureau’s view, necessary for a credible and effective competition compliance program, a template competition compliance program, and employee certification letter and detailed due diligence checklists to comply with core provisions of the Competition Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34, including trade association activities.
The Bureau’s new Compliance Portal is a more interactive and user-friendly online resource than its previous Compliance Bulletin.
It includes an overview of Canadian competition and packaging and labelling laws and compliance programs, the eight elements of what the Bureau now considers to be necessary for a credible and effective competition law compliance program, guidance to comply with key provisions of the Competition Act (abuse of dominance, bid-rigging, conspiracies, deceptive marketing practices and mergers) and hypothetical case studies. For more information about these core provisions of the Competition Act, see Practice Notes:
- Abuse of Dominance (Sections 78 and 79 of the Competition Act).
- Canadian Bid-Rigging Law.
- Canadian Conspiracy (Cartel) Law.
- Corporate Transactions and Merger Control in Canada: Overview.
- Misleading Advertising Under the Competition Act.
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For the full Legal Update, see: Competition Bureau Launches New Competition Compliance Portal.
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