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ARTICLE · 16 APRIL 2020

A Refresher On Performance Claims

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On March 18, 2020, the Commissioner of Competition issued an open letter to the executive members of the Canadian Bar Association's Competition Law Section.

CanadaAntitrust/Competition Law
Chris Margison
Chris Margison
Justine Reisler
Justine Reisler
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On March 18, 2020, the Commissioner of Competition (the "Commissioner") issued an open letter to the executive members of the Canadian Bar Association's Competition Law Section regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Competition Bureau's (the "Bureau") enforcement processes. In this letter, the Commissioner stated that "the Bureau may ... need to prioritize urgent marketplace issues that require immediate action to protect Canadians". While the Commissioner did not provide specific examples of "urgent market issues", a subsequent statement issued by the Bureau suggests that these issues include, among other things, deceptive marketing practices relating to COVID-19 and, in particular, false, misleading or unsubstantiated performance claims about a product's ability to prevent, treat or cure the virus.

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