On June 20, 2024, the Canadian Parliament passed important changes to Canada’s Competition Act (Act) with the enactment of Bill C-59, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 (Bill C-59). The amendments to the Act contained in Bill C-59 mark the third (stage in the Canadian government’s extensive overhaul of Canadian competition law, which began…
Introduction On April 23, 2024, the Canadian Competition Bureau (Bureau) issued its report (Report) on the proposed acquisition of Viterra Limited (Viterra) by Bunge Limited (Bunge), concluding that the transaction (Proposed Transaction) is likely to result in substantial anticompetitive effects in certain agricultural markets in Canada. Bunge and Viterra are both multinational agribusiness companies. In…
After an initial period of indifferent interest, the current Canadian government continues to toughen its approach to the review of foreign investments in Canada. Two important developments in March 2024 underscore this trend. First, the government enacted substantial amendments to the Investment Canada Act (ICA) on March 22, 2024.These amendments, the most significant since 2009,…
2023 was marked by the most significant overhaul of Canadian competition law and policy in over a decade. The changes represent a significant victory for Canada’s Competition Bureau (Bureau), which has persuaded the Canadian government that enhancing enforcement of the Canadian Competition Act (Act) will help reduce inflation and address issues of affordability affecting the…
On June 23, 2023, amendments to the Canadian Competition Act (Act) took effect which now make it a per se criminal offence for unaffiliated employers to agree, conspire or arrange to: “Fix, maintain, decrease or control salaries, wages or terms and conditions of employment” (wage-fixing agreements); or “Not solicit or hire each other’s employees” (no-poach/non-solicit…
In this annual review of Canadian foreign investment law, we discuss developments over the past year, including proposed amendments to the Investment Canada Act (ICA) and new government policies on the treatment of specific categories of investments. We also consider how these trends will influence enforcement in the year to come. Our central observation is…
Significant amendments to Canada’s Competition Act (Act) dominated discussion about Canadian competition law policy and enforcement in 2022. Given the full implementation of the first round of amendments and the formal commencement of public consultation on further amendments, potential legislative reforms are certain to remain at the forefront of Canadian competition law discourse in 2023….
The Canadian government has proposed legislation to update and reinforce its national security review process under the Investment Canada Act (ICA). The proposed changes – contained in Bill C-34, National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act (Bill) – are the most significant since the ICA’s national security regime was introduced in 2009. Proposed New…
On November 17, 2022, Canada’s federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry formally announced that the federal government is launching a comprehensive review of the Competition Act (Act) and Canadian competition policy. This announcement follows through on the Minister’s previous indications that significant reforms were in the works, and comes after the government enacted more…
The Canadian government announced a new policy on October 28, 2022 (the Policy) under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) governing investments by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Canada’s critical minerals sector. The government followed the issuance of the Policy with an announcement on November 2, 2022, that it had ordered three Chinese investors to divest their…
