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Competition Policy

National Legislation - Canada

Competition Act -- CHAPTER C-34

An Act to provide for the general regulation of trade and commerce in respect of conspiracies, trade practices and mergers affecting competition

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Competition Act.

R.S., 1985, c. C-34, s. 1; R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 19.

PART I
PURPOSE AND INTERPRETATION

Purpose of Act

1.1 The purpose of this Act is to maintain and encourage competition in Canada in order to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy, in order to expand opportunities for Canadian participation in world markets while at the same time recognizing the role of foreign competition in Canada, in order to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises have an equitable opportunity to participate in the Canadian economy and in order to provide consumers with competitive prices and product choices.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 19.

Interpretation

Definitions

2.

(1) In this Act,

"article" «article»

"article" «article» "article" means real and personal property of every description including

(a) money,
(b) deeds and instruments relating to or evidencing the title or right to property or an interest, immediate, contingent or otherwise, in a corporation or in any assets of a corporation,
(c) deeds and instruments giving a right to recover or receive property,
(d) tickets or like evidence of right to be in attendance at a particular place at a particular time or times or of a right to transportation, and
(e) energy, however generated;

"business" «entreprise»

"business" includes the business of

(a) manufacturing, producing, transporting, acquiring, supplying, storing and otherwise dealing in articles, and
(b) acquiring, supplying and otherwise dealing in services.

It also includes the raising of funds for charitable or other non-profit purposes.

"Commission" [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 20]

"Commissioner" « commissaire »

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Competition appointed under subsection 7(1);

"Director" [Repealed, 1999, c. 2, s. 1]

"merger" [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 20]

"Minister" «ministre»

"Minister" means the Minister of Industry;

"monopoly" [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 20]

"product" «produit»

"product" includes an article and a service;

"record" «document»

"record" includes any correspondence, memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work, photograph, film, microform, sound recording, videotape, machine readable record, and any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and any copy or portion thereof;

"service" «service»

"service" means a service of any description whether industrial, trade, professional or otherwise;

"supply" «fournir» ou «approvisionner»

"supply" means,

(a) in relation to an article, sell, rent, lease or otherwise dispose of an article or an interest therein or a right thereto, or offer so to dispose of an article or interest therein or a right thereto, and
(b) in relation to a service, sell, rent or otherwise provide a service or offer so to provide a service;

"trade, industry or profession" «commerce, industrie ou profession»

"trade, industry or profession" includes any class, division or branch of a trade, industry or profession;

"Tribunal" «Tribunal»

"Tribunal" means the Competition Tribunal established by subsection 3(1) of the Competition Tribunal Act.

Affiliated corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship

(2) For the purposes of this Act,

(a) one corporation is affiliated with another corporation if one of them is the subsidiary of the other or both are subsidiaries of the same corporation or each of them is controlled by the same person;
(b) if two corporations are affiliated with the same corporation at the same time, they are deemed to be affiliated with each other; and
(c) a partnership or sole proprietorship is affiliated with another partnership, sole proprietorship or a company if both are controlled by the same person.

Subsidiary corporation

(3) For the purposes of this Act, a corporation is a subsidiary of another corporation if it is controlled by that other corporation.

Control

(4) For the purposes of this Act,

(a) a corporation is controlled by a person other than Her Majesty if

(i) securities of the corporation to which are attached more than fifty per cent of the votes that may be cast to elect directors of the corporation are held, directly or indirectly, whether through one or more subsidiaries or otherwise, otherwise than by way of security only, by or for the benefit of that person, and
(ii) the votes attached to those securities are sufficient, if exercised, to elect a majority of the directors of the corporation;

(b) a corporation is controlled by Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province if

(i) the corporation is controlled by Her Majesty in the manner described in paragraph (a), or
(ii) in the case of a corporation without share capital, a majority of the directors of the corporation, other than ex officio directors, are appointed by

(A) the Governor in Council or the Lieutenant Governor in Council of the province, as the case may be, or
(B) a Minister of the government of Canada or the province, as the case may be; and

(c) a partnership is controlled by a person if the person holds an interest in the partnership that entitles the person to receive more than fifty per cent of the profits of the partnership or more than fifty per cent of its assets on dissolution.

R.S., 1985, c. C-34, s. 2; R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 20; 1992, c. 1, s. 145(F); 1995, c. 1, s. 62; 1999, c. 2, s. 1, c. 31, s. 44(F).

Binding on agents of Her Majesty in certain cases

2.1 This Act is binding on and applies to an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province that is a corporation, in respect of commercial activities engaged in by the corporation in competition, whether actual or potential, with other persons to the extent that it would apply if the agent were not an agent of Her Majesty.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 21.

Defects of form

3. No proceedings under this Act shall be deemed invalid by reason of any defect of form or any technical irregularity.

R.S., c. C-23, s. 3.

Collective bargaining activities

4.

(1) Nothing in this Act applies in respect of

(a) combinations or activities of workmen or employees for their own reasonable protection as such workmen or employees;
(b) contracts, agreements or arrangements between or among fishermen or associations of fishermen and persons or associations of persons engaged in the buying or processing of fish relating to the prices, remuneration or other like conditions under which fish will be caught and supplied to those persons by fishermen; or
(c) contracts, agreements or arrangements between or among two or more employers in a trade, industry or profession, whether effected directly between or among the employers or through the instrumentality of a corporation or association of which the employers are members, pertaining to collective bargaining with their employees in respect of salary or wages and terms or conditions of employment.

Limitation

(2) Nothing in this section exempts from the application of any provision of this Act a contract, agreement or arrangement entered into by an employer to withhold any product from any person, or to refrain from acquiring from any person any product other than the services of workmen or employees.

R.S., c. C-23, s. 4; 1974-75-76, c. 76, s. 2.

Underwriters

5.

(1) Sections 45 and 61 do not apply in respect of an agreement or arrangement between or among persons who are members of a class of persons who ordinarily engage in the business of dealing in securities or between or among such persons and the issuer of a specific security, in the case of a primary distribution, or the vendor of a specific security, in the case of a secondary distribution, where the agreement or arrangement has a reasonable relationship to the underwriting of a specific security.

Definition of "underwriting"

(2) For the purposes of this section, "underwriting" of a security means the primary or secondary distribution of the security, in respect of which distribution

(a) a prospectus is required to be filed, accepted or otherwise approved pursuant to a law enacted in Canada or in a jurisdiction outside Canada for the supervision or regulation of trade in securities; or
(b) a prospectus would be required to be filed, accepted or otherwise approved but for an express exemption contained in or given pursuant to a law mentioned in paragraph (a).

R.S., 1985, c. C-34, s. 5; 1999, c. 2, s. 2.

Amateur sport

6.

(1) This Act does not apply in respect of agreements or arrangements between or among teams, clubs and leagues pertaining to participation in amateur sport.

Definition of "amateur sport"

(2) For the purposes of this section, "amateur sport" means sport in which the participants receive no remuneration for their services as participants.

1974-75-76, c. 76, s. 2.


Continuation: PART II - ADMINISTRATION