In this edition: Federal budget proposes new competition and foreign investment related measures, interim injunction issued by Competition Tribunal leads Nortera Foods to abandon proposed acquisition of B&G Foods, Competition Bureau releases 2025-26 Annual Report, and more…
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News You Need to Know
Federal Budget Introduces Competition Reforms
The 2026 federal budget includes several proposed competition and foreign investment law-related measures, including:
- an amendment to the Bank Act to provide the Minister of Finance with a new authority to order the divestiture of investments held in Canadian businesses by banks, bank holding companies, and foreign banks and their affiliates to address national security risks, with a supporting information-gathering authority;
- an amendment to the federal Privacy Regulations formally recognizing the Competition Bureau as an “investigative body” in order to make it easier for federal institutions to share relevant information with the Bureau when it is investigating possible anti-competitive conduct;
- a consultation on potential options to strengthen the Bureau’s ability to address practices that prevent retailers from offering or advertising lower prices, such as suppliers pressuring stores not to discount products below a set price;
- cooperation with provincial and territorial governments to end anti-competitive property controls that restrict competition in the retail grocery sector, building on Manitoba’s new model;
- approximately $130 million in funding for the Competition Bureau to investigate, prevent, and combat anti-competitive business practices in the grocery sector; and
- cooperation with provincial and territorial governments to expand and harmonize across Canada restrictions on non-compete agreements in employment contracts modelled on the federal approach, as reflected in proposed amendments to the Canada Labour Code that would generally prohibit non-competes in federally regulated workplaces, subject to defined exceptions.
Nortera Abandons Proposed Acquisition
Nortera Foods Inc. has abandoned its proposed acquisition of B&G Foods Canada’s Green Giant and Le Sieur brands in the wake of the Competition Tribunal’s interim order prohibiting the parties from closing their transaction until it ruled on the Competition Bureau’s application seeking to block the deal.
Competition Bureau Updates Environmental Claims Guidance
The Competition Bureau has published updated environmental claims guidanceto reflect the March 2026 amendments to the Competition Act. As a result of those amendments, while businesses must still substantiate claims about the environmental benefits of a business or business activity, the law no longer requires that that such substantiation be based on internationally recognized methodology. Further, while private access to the Competition Tribunal remains available for other deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act, the amendments removed private access for claims specifically concerning the environmental benefits of a business or business activity. Such claims could still be challenged under the other deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act.
Competition Bureau Annual Report Released
The Bureau has published its 2025-26 Annual Report – Competition for a Stronger Canada. Among other highlights, the Bureau notes that it completed its reviews of 98.5% of non-complex mergers within the 14-day non-binding service standard, and 90% of its reviews of complex mergers with the 45-day non-binding service standard. Separately, of the 88 investigations commenced by the Bureau in 2025-26, 24 related to cartels, 56 to deceptive marketing practices and nine to monopolistic practices, such as abuse of dominance.
Competition Tribunal Orders $15M Penalty
The Competition Tribunal has ordered Rogers to pay a $15 million penalty in connection with the marketing of its infinite wireless plan. In an application filed in December 2024, the Competition Bureau alleged that Rogers engaged in deceptive marketing by promoting and advertising as “unlimited” or “infinite” mobile data plans that had a pre-determined and finite amount of high-speed data, after which the speed would be significantly reduced for the remainder of the billing cycle.
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Other Developments
Call for Stronger Non-Compete Limits
The Interim Commissioner of Competition has published an open letter to the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for labour and employment standards encouraging them to follow Ontario in limiting the use of non-compete agreements, except as required to preserve legitimate business protections. Since 2021, the Ontario Employment Standards Act has prohibited most new employment non-competes, subject to limited exceptions, including certain agreements associated with the sale of a business and agreements involving senior executives.
Bureau Raises Concerns Regarding Proposed Air Canada-United Arrangement
In its report to the Minister of Transport, the Bureau has concluded that a proposed arrangement between Air Canada and United Airlines would likely harm competition on 10 routes between Canada and the United States. The Minister of Transport is currently conducting a public interest review of the proposed arrangement under the Canada Transportation Act (CTA). The CTA requires the Bureau to report any competition concerns to the Minister of Transport when certain airline agreements are subject to a public interest review. The Minister will consider the Bureau’s findings as part of that review and ultimately decide whether to authorize the proposed arrangement and on what terms.
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About the Team
Cassels on Competition is brought to you by the Competition & Foreign Investment Group at Cassels.
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