SWEEPING CANADIAN COMPETITION ACT
AMENDMENTS (BILL C-59) PASSED JUNE 20, 2024
On June 20, 2024, Bill C-59 was passed (the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023), which introduced the third of three significant rounds of amendments to Canada’s federal Competition Act in two years (together with Bill C-19 and Bill C-56). This new round of amendments to the Competition Act completes a sweeping overhaul of the Competition Act across virtually all key provisions of Canada’s competition legislation. These amendments are also the most significant changes to Canadian competition law since the modern Competition Act came into effect in 1986 replacing the former Combines Investigation Act.
The Bill C-59 amendments, among other things, strengthen the Competition Bureau’s powers to enforce key deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act (e.g., relating to drip pricing, performance claims and ordinary selling price (OSP) claims), strengthen private party rights to seek Competition Tribunal remedies (e.g., for civil deceptive marketing and violations of the civil agreements provisions of the Act), introduce new penalties (e.g., administrative monetary penalties for violating the civil agreements provisions of the Act and for reprisal actions penalizing individuals for complying with the Act) and introduce a new clearance regime for environmental protection related agreements. Canada’s Competition Act merger review regime was also substantially overhauled, eliminating the efficiency defence, introducing market share presumptions and a more restrictive remedial test for restoring competition.
These amendments, together with those enacted in June 2022 and December 2023 (Bill C-19 and Bill C-56), increase the potential competition law risk for companies, trade and professional associations and other entities, particularly those without credible and effective competition law compliance programs and that have not reviewed their business practices to reflect Canada’s new competition laws. For the Competition Bureau’s summary of the June 20, 2024 Bill C-59 amendments to the Competition Act, see: Guide to the June 2024 amendments to the Competition Act (June 25, 2024).
Our blogs will be updated to reflect these amendments.
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The Canadian Competition Bureau’s core competition law compliance recommendation is that companies, trade/professional associations and others that face potential Competition Act risk adopt credible and effective competition law compliance programs. See: Competition Bureau, Compliance Hub.
Credible and effective competition law compliance programs can, in some cases, mitigate the penalties in a Competition Bureau investigation, are routinely required as a condition in negotiated settlements with the Competition Bureau (i.e., as terms in negotiated consent agreements with the Competition Bureau) and are a key way to avoid potential competition or advertising law issues from arising at all.
OUR COMPETITION AND ADVERTISING LAW
COMPLIANCE PROGRAM SERVICES
We offer competition law, advertising law and CASL (anti-spam law) compliance and educational services for public and private companies, advertising agencies, communications firms, trade and professional associations, not-for-profit bodies and other organizations that face potential competition or advertising law risk.
Our compliance services include compliance audits, compliance programs and policies, compliance guidelines and checklists, seminars and talks for company, agency and association personnel, vetting corporate and trade association activities, legal advice and opinions, board of director and new executive orientation seminars and seeking Competition Bureau written opinions.
Our work has included providing compliance services to a wide range of clients in relation to Canadian advertising law, CASL (anti-spam law), competition law, consumer protection laws, contest law and sector-specific legislation and regulation (e.g., the regulation of professionals, trade and professional association codes of conduct and rules, etc.).
REPRESENTATIVE COMPETITION LAW AND ADVERTISING LAW
COMPLIANCE PROGRAM AND COMPLIANCE WORK
Some representative examples of our Canadian competition and advertising law compliance work include:
Preparing competition and advertising law compliance programs and policies in many industries, compliance talks and seminars for associations and companies, competition law lunch-and-learns for law firms, agencies and other organizations, drafting conduct of meeting, search and seizure and information exchange guidelines for companies and associations, guidelines for joint ventures, strategic alliances and other competitor collaborations, guidelines to conduct surveys and benchmarking involving competitors, a national competition law compliance course for organized real estate (Competition Law and REALTORS: What You Say and Do Matters), subject matter expert for a national online competition law compliance course for Canadian REALTORS, co-author of The Competition Law Guide for Trade Associations in Canada (Carswell), Lawyer Editor for Practical Law Canada, Competition, subject matter expert and author for the advertising law section of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College’s course Ethics in Clinical Practice and Advertising, advertising/marketing law do’s and don’ts and compliance guidelines and compliance advice, precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian federal anti-spam law (CASL).
For more information see: Compliance and Trade and Professional Association Compliance.
For more information about Canadian advertising law, visit our advertising law blog: Canadian Advertising & Marketing Law.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
