Review of Competition Law and Policy in Canada

Important issues in competition policy in Canada today are the independence and powers of the institutions and the balance between competition policy principles and national interests. The foundations of policy are being tested in merger litigation over the meaning of efficiency. Enforcement against cartels is complicated by a need to show that restraints are “undue.” Canada's “conformity continuum” offers an important, distinctive contribution to enforcement practice. Responses to controversies sometimes appear ad hoc, but the outcomes, such as the laws about banking mergers and about airlines, have recognised competition concerns. Policy options for consideration include finding other means to promote the goals now served by ownership controls, reviewing the scope of federal and provincial regulatory constraints on competition, clarifying the scope of the Commissioner's decision-making independence, and making enforcement more efficient by providing for private action, improving the decision process, and clarifying the anti-cartel principle.