CAMP Statement on the Government's Proposed Amendments to the Competition Act

September 14, 2023

Today the Prime Minister announced the government’s intention to introduce material amendments to the Competition Act to help address the ongoing cost of living crisis facing Canadians. If passed, the amendments would:

• Allow the Competition Bureau to conduct actual market studies by giving them the power to compel information rather than rely on the good will of Canada’s largest corporations
• Remove the efficiencies defense to mergers that allows harms to Canadians to be traded off for alleged cost savings
• Strengthen the Competition Bureau’s ability to pursue agreements that harm competition, including restrictive covenants such as those recently uncovered by the Halifax Examiner

In response, the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project released the following statement.

“The amendments proposed today are an excellent step towards protecting the future of competition in Canada,” said Keldon Bester, Executive Director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. “By strengthening our merger law, giving the Competition Bureau the power to truly study the state of competition in markets, and enhance the ability to stop agreements that harm competition, the government lays the foundation for a more competitive Canada. Though there is still work to be done, this is a great start to modernizing Canada’s competition laws to deliver fair competition to Canadians.”