PIAC comments on Senator Wetston’s Inquiry on Canadian Competition Act in the Digital Era

PIAC recently commented on Senator Howard Wetston’s inquiry concerning the reform of the Canadian Competition Act in this digital age. The last review of the Act took place 14 years ago. Much has changed since then, with the most significant development being the emergence of digital platforms and the rapidly changing competitive landscape. This review was long overdue and is certainly a step in the right direction.

We presented our major concerns and proposed some pragmatic measures to protect competition and consumer interests in this digital age. Specifically, we suggested retaining protection of consumer interests in the purpose clause of the Competition Act and proposed additional safeguards to clarify the scope of consumer protection under the Act, and standards for applying competition law and policy. We strongly opposed any attempt to remove consumer protection from this framework. We commented on measures to consider concerning abuse of dominance by digital platforms. We also recommended the removal of the problematic efficiencies defence. It is high time that we remove this outdated defence from our competition framework. Lastly, we looked at measures from other jurisdictions that could be applied in Canada.

PIAC’s Recommendations:

  • Must retain consumer protection in the purpose clause along with protections for SMEs, and added protections for workers, besides economic objectives. This clause should be aimed at achieving a fair and open market that protects consumer interests and keeps a check on corporate power.
  • An appropriate standard for applying competition law and policy would be one that prioritizes consumer protection in an open and fair market.
  • Given the increasing dominance of large digital platforms, consider including explicit protections in Canada’s competition framework to protect user privacy and data.
  • Remove the outdated efficiencies defence, provided under s.96 and s.90.1 of the Competition Act.
  • Mandate ex post merger reviews to be undertaken after a period of at least five to ten years from merger approvals, particularly for those mergers that carried significant risk of market concentration. The results of such reviews should be publicly disclosed.
  • Adopt more stringent processes for merger reviews that align with the tougher approaches being considered in the U.S.
  • Incorporate specific measures to combat and mitigate anti-competitive practices by digital platforms, such as prohibiting self-preferencing practices, and mandating interoperability and data portability requirements. EU’s gatekeeper proposals could be a useful consideration in designing this framework.
  • Canada should consult with various stakeholders, including consumer representatives to better structure Canada’s Digital Enforcement and Intelligence Branch, and importantly, to ensure that its objectives are well-defined and provide a fair and open market with comprehensive protections.

Read our full submission here.

PIAC recently commented on Senator Howard Wetston’s inquiry concerning the reform of the Canadian Competition Act in this digital age. The last review of the Act took place 14 years ago. Much has changed since then, with the most significant development being the emergence of digital platforms and the rapidly changing competitive landscape.

We presented our major concerns and proposed some pragmatic measures to protect competition and consumer interests in this digital age. Specifically, we suggested retaining protection of consumer interests in the purpose clause of the Competition Act and proposed additional safeguards to clarify the scope of consumer protection under the Act, and standards for applying competition law and policy. We strongly opposed any attempt to remove consumer protection from this framework. We commented on measures to consider concerning abuse of dominance by digital platforms. We also recommended the removal of the problematic efficiencies defence. See our submission for more details.