The Competition Bureau has reached an agreement with four major ebook publishers that is expected to lower the price of ebooks in Canada. Following an 18-month investigation into the ebook industry in Canada, the bureau has signed a consent agreement with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster. Canadian consumers will benefit from the … Read more
The Competition Bureau announced that it has issued a No Action Letter with respect to TELUS' proposed acquisition of Public Mobile, after determining that the proposed transaction is unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in the sale of mobile wireless telecommunications services in Southern Ontario and Greater Montreal. The full release is available online. … Read more
The Competition Bureau announced that it has reached a Consent Agreement with La Coop federee (LCF) and Groupe BMR (BMR) to remedy competition concerns related to LCF's proposed acquisition of minority interests in BMR. The Consent Agreement will require certain store franchisees in four local markets in the province of Quebec to find new banners … Read more
The Competition Bureau announced that it has reached a Consent Agreement with Sobeys Inc. to remedy competition issues related to Sobeys' proposed acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Canada Safeway. The Consent Agreement will require the divestiture of 23 stores and as such will preserve competition for the retail sale of groceries in … Read more
John Pecman, Commissioner of Competition, issued a statement with respect to the competition tribunal's decision released in July 2013 that dismissed the commissioner's application against Visa and MasterCard: "Following a careful review of the Competition Tribunal's decision, we have decided not to appeal this decision, but to focus our efforts on identifying alternate means of … Read more
The Competition Bureau announced that it has reached a Consent Agreement with Agrium Inc. to resolve competition concerns related to agrium's proposed acquisition of the majority of Viterra Inc.'s retail agri-products business from Glencore International plc. This Consent Agreement follows a review of the proposed transaction, during which the bureau concluded that the acquisition would … Read more
John Pecman, commissioner of competition, issued a statement in response to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice's decision dismissing the misleading advertising portion of the bureau's deceptive marketing practices case against Rogers Communications Inc. (Rogers): "We are disappointed that the Court did not agree that Rogers' claims were misleading to consumers, and we are currently … Read more
Following a thorough investigation by the Competition Bureau and a trial before the Quebec Superior Court in Sherbrooke, Les Petroles Global Inc. has been found guilty for its role in a gasoline price-fixing conspiracy. The Ontario company, accused in June 2008, was found guilty for conspiring to fix the price of retail gasoline in Victoriaville, … Read more
The Competition Bureau has reached consent agreements with Canadian automobile distributors Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. (Hyundai) and Kia Canada Inc. (Kia) that formalize the steps they have taken to respond to inaccurate fuel consumption ratings found in advertisements for a number of their automobiles. The fuel consumption ratings were based on testing conducted at joint … Read more
The Competition Tribunal issued a decision dismissing the Commissioner of Competition's application against Visa and MasterCard. "I am disappointed that the Tribunal has dismissed the Bureau's application," said John Pecman, commissioner of Competition. "At the same time, the decision recognized that this case is one that should have been brought before the Tribunal and found … Read more
