Canadian Competition Bureau's Final Guidance Discourages Property Controls

The Canadian Competition Bureau (Bureau) raised concerns in its 2023 market study of the grocery sector about the use of competitor property controls (i.e., terms in commercial leases or covenants that run with the land) to restrict the entry of new grocery stores. These concerns led to changes to the Competition Act (Act), effective in December 2024. These changes extend the civil provisions prohibiting agreements between competitors that substantially lessen or prevent competition to certain types of anti-competitive agreements between non-competitors (e.g., an agreement between a developer and an adjacent landowner or between a landlord and a tenant).

More recently, the Bureau released draft guidance on its preliminary enforcement position with respect to competitor property controls. (See our discussion of the Bureau's initial draft guidance for additional background.) Following public consultation on the preliminary guidance and the above-noted changes to