Canadian Competition Law and Policy

Competition law is centred on the idea that competitive markets can efficiently and effectively deliver the goods, services, and economic growth that society desires. It seeks to promote the proper functioning of markets in order to deliver such benefits as low prices, consumer choice, and innovative products. This is done through provisions such as criminal offences for price fixing and other anti-competitive agreements between competitors, through the review of mergers that may prevent or lessen competition, and through remedies against dominant firms that may exclude competitors or create barriers to entry. Competition laws have gained importance internationally in recent decades, and are now present in over 130 jurisdictions worldwide. Canadian Competition Law and Policy provides a succinct and accessible analysis of the Competition Act and related legislation, regulations, enforcement guidelines, and other guidance issued by the Competition Bureau. The discussion provides extensive case examples drawn from Canadian, American, European, and other competition law authorities to lluminate concepts and legal tests. The book seeks to offer students, lawyers, and others interested in the subject a practical guide to the context, objectives, and evolution of the Canadian competition law scheme by providing

• an overview of the jurisprudential and legislative history;
• an approachable outline of key economic concepts; and
• a review of methods and approaches applied by economists and lawyers to the analysis of competition law problems.

While this book is focused on the law, the discussion also touches on topics related to the broader subject of competition policy, which deals with such matters as how competition legislation is designed and implemented, and its interplay with regulatory and other government policies that may affect the competitive market. An emerging issue in this respect is the conduct of dominant firms in digital and data-driven markets, and the extent to which competition law is equipped to address this conduct or may need to adapt or change to do so. Canadian Competition Law and Policy addresses other fascinating and challenging examples of industry structures (such as oligopolistic markets) and market conduct (such as tied selling and predatory pricing) that require a blend of business, economics, law and related disciplines for their analysis.