Tag: Competition Bureau of Canada

Parliament Should Consider Introducing an Excess Profit Tax for Grocers, Committee Suggests

Parliament should consider implementing a new tax on excess profits for grocers, a House of Commons committee is suggesting, despite Canada’s grocery-store CEOs unanimously denying that they’ve profited on inflated food costs over the past year. “Despite the range of inflationary pressures discussed above, some large firms in certain sectors have reported record earnings, leading…


Competition Bureau Suing Cineplex for Alleged Junk Fees for Online Tickets

The Competition Bureau is suing Cineplex for allegedly advertising misleading ticket prices, the agency said Thursday. The Bureau alleged in a press release that Cineplex is breaking the law by adding an additional fee that raises the price of its tickets purchased online. It said an investigation found that consumers can’t buy tickets online at…


Rogers-Shaw Deal Will Disproportionately Impact Lower-Income Canadians, MPs Hear

Rogers’ planned buyout of Shaw Communications Inc. for $26 billion will have a disproportionate impact on low-income Canadians by harming competitiveness in the telecom industry, says a lawyer from the federal Competition Bureau. “We saw the impact on all consumers generally. We were concerned about all of those consumers,” said Jeanne Pratt, senior deputy commissioner of the…


Ottawa to Ban Wage-Fixing, No-Poaching Agreements This June

The federal government will be making wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements illegal for Canadian employers this year and introducing criminal charges for both offences, says Competition Bureau Canada. “Much like other agreements between competitors, such as price fixing, wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements undermine competition,” said the bureau in a news release on Jan. 18. “Maintaining and…


Accusing Grocers of ‘Greedflation’ Is Pointless, but People Want a Scapegoat

Commentary As food prices rise, many are quick to blame grocers for profiteering and taking advantage of consumers. The notion of “greedflation” has emerged as one of the most talked about issues in the last month. Food inflation in Canada is at a 41-year high, at 10.3 percent, and chances are that consumers won’t get…


Chorus of Demands for More Competition in Canada’s Telecom Industry After Rogers Outage

Critics and members of the opposition are calling for an investigation into the July 8 Rogers outage, as the telecom service provider scrambles to restore internet and phone services to millions of affected Canadians. The outage that occurred in the early morning of July 8 has caused problems connecting to 911 in Toronto and Winnipeg,…


As Big Firms Get Bigger, Managing the Economy Gets More Difficult

Big companies have strengthened their dominance in the economy relative to small businesses amid the pandemic and a rise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is afoot.