Find Lawyers in Toronto, Ontario for Competition / Antitrust Law
Practice Area Overview
Broadly speaking, the purpose of Canadian competition law is to provide consumers with competitive prices and product choices. The Competition Act is Canada's principal competition legislation. It is a federal statute that applies throughout the country to all sectors of the economy, with very limited exceptions. The Competition Act is administered by the Competition Bureau, a branch of the federal Department of Industry. The Competition Act contains criminal prohibitions against certain types of activities while other categories of conduct are subject to civil review at the Competition Tribunal or before the courts. Sanctions range from fines to imprisonment to orders prohibiting or prescribing certain conduct.
Competition lawyers in Canada typically provide advice to clients in the following key areas:
- Merger Transactions: The Competition Act requires that transactions over a certain size be notified to the Competition Bureau. The Bureau has the authority to review both notifiable and non-notifiable transactions to determine if they are likely to substantially prevent or lessen competition. Clients will retain competition counsel to advise on these issues. Competition counsel also will provide advice on transaction-related matters such as deal structure and purchase agreement provisions.
- Agreements Among Competitors: The Competition Act makes it a criminal offence for competitors to enter into certain types of agreements (e.g., price fixing and bid-rigging). Other agreements may be subject to civil review if their effect is to substantially prevent or lessen competition. Counsel will be called upon by clients to assess whether proposed collaborations with competitors could be subject to criminal or civil review under these provisions.
- Abuse of Dominance: Parties that "control" a market are prohibited from abusing their "dominance" in such as way as to substantially prevent or lessen competition. Parties that may hold a "dominant" position in a market will retain counsel to advise whether practices such as exclusive arrangements and loyalty rebates could be an issue.
In addition to these principal substantive areas, competition lawyers will become involved on behalf of their clients in a variety of other matters covered by the Competition Act, including designing pricing and distribution programs; dealing with distributor terminations; and setting up advertising campaigns, contests, and other types of promotions. Counsel also will assist clients in related matters such as establishing compliance programs; dealing with Bureau investigations; and litigation (public and private).
Anthony (Tony) Baldanza’s business law practice is focused on competition law, foreign investment law and corporate/commercial matters. In his competition law practice, Tony provides advice and representation in relation to mergers and in relation to cartels, abuse of dominance and other restrictive trade practices. Working across a wide range of industries, Tony assists clients in clearing transactions through the Canadian Competition Bureau and, with local counsel, through the competi...
Paul Collins is senior counsel and the former Head of the Competition & Foreign Investment Group in the Toronto office. He practises corporate and commercial law, specializing in the area of competition law, providing both transactional and general compliance advice, as well as advice regarding marketing and advertising law. Paul is also a leading advisor for foreign investors in connection with the Investment Canada Act . His practice puts him in constant contact with the federal Competi...
Laura Cooper is Leader of Fasken’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Class Actions practice group. She has extensive experience in class action litigation, with particular emphasis on securities, competition, consumer and privacy class actions. Laura acts regularly for internationally known corporations in the defence of significant class actions. Many of her cases have cross-border and international implications and Laura works closely wi...
Tony is a Partner and Co-Leader of the firm’s Competition, Marketing and Foreign Investment Group. As former counsel to Canada’s Commissioner of Competition (Department of Justice Canada) and having served as counsel in many of Canada’s most significant competition matters, Tony is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading practitioners in competition law and litigation. Tony represents and counsels clients in domestic and multi-jurisdictional competition matters, i...
Huy Do is the Co-Leader of the firm’s Competition, Marketing & Foreign Investment group. His practice focuses on anti-trust/competition, marketing and foreign investment law. Huy is a widely recognized leader in Canadian competition, marketing and foreign investment laws. He is a Past Chair and member of the Executive of the Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association and serves as a Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network, a network of antitrus...
Eric Dufour is a partner in our Toronto office and the Leader of the Competition/Antitrust &Foreign Investment Group. With over 25 years of experience, clients trust Eric with their most strategic and critical competition, foreign investment and national security matters. Eric has successfully obtained clearances under the Competition Act for hundreds of domestic, cross-border and international transactions. He also provides strategic advice to firms facing criminal and reviewable issues,...
Sinziana Hennig is a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group and a member of the Students Committee in the Toronto office. Her practice focuses on class actions and complex commercial litigation. Sinziana has defended class actions involving competition, securities, consumer protection, product liability, and franchise law claims. She has significant experience in defending multi-jurisdictional and cross-border class actions, as well as in obtaining dismissal of securities cl...
Chris Hersh is a business law partner based in Toronto and the Canadian head of our antitrust and competition practice. Chris provides strategic counsel to clients on all aspects of competition law, including mergers and acquisitions, criminal matters, abuse of dominance, marketing and advertising, as well as pricing and distribution issues. He also regularly works with international clients to obtain approvals under the "net benefit," national security and cultural sector review provisions o...
Katherine Kay is a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Competition & Foreign Investment Groups. She has served on the Partnership Board and Executive Committee, as well as the Management Committee in the Toronto office. Katherine leads the competition litigation group and her practice is concentrated on complex commercial litigation, often involving the interplay between regulatory, civil and criminal law regimes, and across multiple jurisdictions. Chambers Global has d...
Michael Kilby is a partner and Head of the Competition & Foreign Investment Group. He is a leading advisor on matters relating to Canadian competition and foreign investment laws, and has wide-ranging experience in complex merger reviews, foreign investment approvals, national security reviews, pricing and distribution practices, misleading advertising, anti-corruption and related counselling matters across a broad spectrum of industries. Michael has been involved in some of the most impo...
Eliot Kolers is the Head of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group and a member of the Management Committee and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee in the Toronto office. Eliot is recognized by his peers as a leading litigator with vast expertise in the areas of corporate commercial litigation, class actions, securities litigation and competition litigation matters. He has represented clients in numerous complex and high-profile commercial cases involving oppression remedies, p...
Mike Laskey is a partner in the Competition & Foreign Investment Group. His practice focuses on the review of transactions under the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act . Under the Competition Act , Mike regularly advises clients on the competition law risks of complex and high-profile transactions. Mike leads competition law reviews of some of the most involved transactions in Canada. Mike works with the Competition Bureau to resolve difficult and novel competition issues and n...
Chris Margison has over 20 years of private and public sector legal experience, including as Special Advisor to both the Commissioner of Competition and the Senior Deputy Commissioner, Cartels Directorate at the Competition Bureau. With his background, Chris brings a number of attributes, such as the ability to provide critical advice, guidance and recommendations in a timely fashion on all aspects of Canadian competition law. He has advised the Commissioner, Senior Deputy Commissioners and h...
Paul Martin is co-chair of the firm’s Class Actions practice group. With extensive experience in commercial, administrative and quasi-criminal litigation, Paul assists clients predominantly in the areas of class actions and complex cross-border litigation. His defence and trial practice primarily involves product liability, shareholder rights, employment, financial institutions, insurance, securities regulation, competition, pensions and benefits, consumer protection, and intellectual p...
Shawn Neylan is a partner who advises businesses in relation to Canadian federal regulatory and criminal laws in the economic sanctions, anti-corruption, commercial bribery, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing, national security, competition and forced labour areas. Shawn’s wide range of experience spans over 35 years counselling clients on compliance and transactional matters, conducting internal investigations and litigating competition and a wide range of other matters in...
Michael Osborne advises and represents clients involved in competition and regulatory inquiries, criminal and administrative prosecutions, class actions and other competition litigation. His practice covers all aspects of competition law, including cartels, abuse of dominance, mergers, and marketing practices. He has expertise in a wide range of industries, including airlines, banking and payment systems, securities, waste, technology, pharmaceuticals, energy, manufacturing, and construction....
Danielle Royal is a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group and a member of the Management Committee in the Toronto office. Her practice focuses on class actions, complex commercial litigation and competition litigation. Danielle has appeared before all levels of Court in Ontario, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. She has represented clients on several cross-border class actions involving claims of price-fixing and conspiracy, other commercial dispu...
David Feldman is an associate in the Competition & Foreign Investment Group. He assists clients with the review of transactions under the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act . David also advises on compliance issues related to the Competition Act , federal and provincial marketing and advertising laws and regulations, as well as various other regulatory issues.
Biography Justine Johnston is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Global Antitrust & Competition Group and International Commercial Practice Group, focusing on competition/antitrust law and foreign investment review. Justine has been recognized in WWL's Competition Future Leaders - Non-Partners 2023 category. Practice Focus Antitrust, Competition & Foreign Investment Justine advises clients on all aspects of Canadian competition law, with a particular focus on obtaining competition...
Devin provides specialized advice to clients on all aspects of Canadian competition, antitrust, foreign investment, marketing, transportation, digital broadcasting, and corporate compliance law. Devin has worked on some of the largest and most seminal cases under the Competition Act (Canada) and the Investment Canada Act in recent years and his experience has touched on various industries and disciplines. Devin values providing clients with practical and easy to understand advice. His clients...
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