In our previous Bennett Jones insight, we described several upcoming (and far-reaching) amendments to the Competition Act (the Act) introduced by the Government of Canada in 2023. The most recent set of amendments came into...more
Competition Bureau Publishes Related Enforcement Guidelines Canada's new criminal prohibition on wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements will come into force on June 23, 2023. These new provisions under subsection 45(1.1) of...more
For the third year in a row the Competition Bureau announced that the transaction-size threshold for pre-merger notification under the Competition Act will be $93 million....more
2/8/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Canada ,
Competition Act ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment ,
Investment Canada Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements ,
WTO
Last year, the Competition Act was amended to make it a criminal offense for two or more unrelated employers to enter into wage-fixing or no-poaching agreements. As we discussed last summer, these new provisions come into...more
There have been significant recent developments related to the treatment of foreign investments in the critical minerals sector, particularly by foreign state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and foreign-influenced private investors....more
On December 7, 2022, François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (the Minister), announced several proposed amendments to the national security regime under the Investment Canada Act (ICA)...more
On October 25, 2022, the Competition Bureau published its new Information Bulletin on Transparency, which explains the approach the Bureau will take when communicating with different groups of people during its...more
Recent amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (Ontario) and the Competition Act (Canada) may be sounding the death knell for certain restricted covenants in Ontario—both non-competition covenants given by employees,...more
On April 26, 2022, the Government of Canada revealed significant proposed amendments to the Competition Act (the Act) as part of the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 (the BIA). As expected, these amendments have now...more
On March 8, 2022, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry issued a policy statement advising non-Canadian investors and Canadian businesses to review their investment plans...more
The Competition Bureau announced that the 2022 size of transaction pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act will remain at its 2021 level of C$93 million. Acquisitions may be subject to mandatory...more
On March 24, 2021 the Government of Canada released updated Guidelines on the National Security Review of Investments under the Investment Canada Act. The Guidelines provide a non-exhaustive list of factors the government...more
The Competition Bureau announced that the 2021 size of transaction pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act will decrease to C$93 million from the current threshold of C$96 million. Acquisitions may be...more
On April 18, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry issued a policy statement announcing that the Government of Canada will subject certain foreign investments in Canada to enhanced scrutiny under the Investment...more
The Competition Act is federal legislation that governs most business conduct in Canada. The role of the Competition Bureau is to prevent and deter anti-competitive behaviour and deceptive marketing practices, review mergers...more
4/15/2020
/ Canada ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
False Advertising ,
Marketing ,
Non-Essential Businesses ,
Small Business ,
Supply Chain ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Competition Bureau has announced that the 2020 size of transaction pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act will remain unchanged from the current threshold of $96 million set in 2019. Acquisitions may...more
The U.S. Treasury Department, on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issued two final regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA),...more
2/11/2020
/ Canada ,
CFIUS ,
Covered Real Estate Transactions ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Final Rules ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
New Rules ,
Personal Data ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Treasury
On January 31, 2019, the Competition Bureau announced the 2019 size of transaction pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act would increase to $96 million (the 2018 threshold was $92 million). Acquisitions...more
On February 9, 2018, the Competition Bureau announced the 2018 size of transaction pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act would increase to $92 million (the 2017 threshold was $88 million). Acquisitions...more
Canadian public merger and acquisition transactions in 2016 (in-bound and out-bound) comprised over C$400 billion in value with at least one-third of the transactions in Canada being fueled by foreign buyers. The second...more
On December 19, 2016, the Canadian Government released new Guidelines on the National Security Review of Investments under the Investment Canada Act (the “Act”) increasing review transparency in an effort to bolster foreign...more
Bill Morneau, Canada’s Minister of Finance has announced amendments to the Investment Canada Act aimed at attracting private-sector foreign investment. The Minister expressed the government’s plans to make things easier for...more
On February 5, 2016, the Competition Bureau announced the 2016 “size of transaction” pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act would increase to $87 million; the 2015 threshold was $86 million. Acquisitions...more
On February 2, 2015, the Competition Bureau announced the 2015 “size of transaction” pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act would increase to $86 million; the 2014 threshold was $82 million. Acquisitions...more
On January 20, 2014, the Competition Bureau announced the 2014 “size of transaction” pre-merger notification threshold would increase to $82 million; the 2013 threshold was $80 million. ...more