Year in Review (2016-2017)

Abstract

Highlights of another active year for Canadian competition and foreign investment law include:

• The Competition Tribunal's held that the Toronto Real Estate Board's policy restricting the ability of brokerages to offer products to consumers over the internet violated the Competition Act's abuse of dominance provisions.
• The Bureau reaffirmed the role of the Act's efficiency defence in merger review with their decision in Canexus/Chemtrade.
• The Bureau's application under s. 74.1 against Moose Knuckles for their allegedly deceptive "Made in Canada" claims was resolved through mediation.
• Ontario and British Columbia courts reached different verdicts on the issue of whether cartel members may be liable for "umbrella pricing" (i.e., higher prices charged by non-cartel members that allegedly benefit from the "umbrella" provided by supra-competitive cartel pricing) in class actions
• Guidance for national security reviews under the Investment Canada Act was published
• Thresholds for "net benefit" reviews for investments by (or from) non-SEO WTO investors in non-cultural businesses increased from $600 million to $800 million in April 2017, and then to $1 billion in June 2017. The Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement will raise that threshold will rise to $1.5 billion for EU
• investors and investors from certain other countries party to free trade agreements containing most-favoured nations clauses, including the United States.