Competition, marketing and foreign investment law saw a number of changes in the past year. Many of these changes were in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly changed the way Canadians, businesses and government agencies operate. Despite the pandemic, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) has actively continued its enforcement activity and provided
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Investment Canada Act: New Monetary Thresholds for 2022
Under the Investment Canada Act (the “ICA”), the direct acquisition of control of a Canadian business by a non-Canadian may be subject to a pre-closing review and approval process (a “Net Benefit Review”) if a specified monetary threshold is exceeded. When officially published in the February Canada Gazette, the following thresholds for Net Benefit Reviews…
Tendering with an Empowerment Partner? Be Wary of the Collusion Risk
Business people in South Africa who do business by responding to tenders do so well aware that empowerment credentials assist in standing a good chance of winning. Companies seeking to win a tender over their rivals will therefore often put in tenders in their own name as well as with an empowerment partner. This carries…
Key Themes from the Global Competition Review’s Annual Women in Antitrust Conference
On November 4, 2021, Justine Reisler and Robin Spillette attended the Global Competition Review’s annual Women in Antitrust conference in Washington, D.C. The event featured an incredible lineup of female lawyers and economists on panels addressing some of the most cutting-edge topics in antitrust today, namely: (i) assessing deal risk in a time of changing…
Post-Election Priorities – Will a Competition Policy Review make the Cut?
By John Pecman
Surprisingly, the economy did not take centre stage in the recent federal government election. Rather, the limelight was on the government’s pandemic performance and the growing government intervention in all aspects of our lives. Canadians, it seems, were not ready to turn the channel from their binge watching of the governments’ pandemic caretaking. However, as…
Blair’s and FCL: a Refresher on Vertical Mergers
It is widely recognized and accepted that vertical mergers are generally pro-competitive or benign. For example, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) has stated in its Merger Enforcement Guidelines (the “MEGs”) that vertical mergers “may not entail the loss of competition between the merging firms in a relevant market” and “frequently create significant efficiencies”, such as…
How will the outcome of the 2021 Federal Election impact Competition Law in Canada?
On September 20, 2021, Canadians will head to the polls to elect a new House of Commons. All of Canada’s major political parties have released political platforms which outline their plans to revise and, at least in their view, improve Canadian competition law and policy. Depending on which party is ultimately elected (and whether they…
Interim Relief Denied – Takeaways from the Secure/Tervita Section 104 Decision
On August 16, 2021, the Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) dismissed the Commissioner of Competition’s (the “Commissioner”) request for interim relief in connection with the recently-completed merger of SECURE Energy Services Inc. (“Secure”) and Tervita Corporation (“Tevita”) (the “Transaction”). In summary, in its decision made public on August 23, 2021, the Tribunal found that the Commissioner…
New Industry Standard for Advertising Food and Beverage Products to Children
The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), the Canadian Beverage Association (CBA), Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) and Restaurants Canada recently published the Code for the Responsible Advertising of Food and Beverage Products to Children (the “Code”). The Code, and its accompanying Guide for the Responsible Advertising of Food and Beverage Products to…
National Security Reviews Continue to Impact Investments by Non-Canadians
The Director of Investments recently issued his Investment Canada Act Annual Report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. During that fiscal year, a total of 1,032 applications for review and notifications were certified under the Investment Canada Act, being an all time high for such filings. Of these filings, 255 were in respect…