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ARTICLE · 17 OCTOBER 2011

Canadian Competition Bureau Releases Revised Merger Enforcement Guidelines

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On October 6, 2011, the Competition Bureau ("Bureau") issued the final version of its revised Merger Enforcement Guidelines ("MEGs").

CanadaAntitrust/Competition Law
James Musgrove
James Musgrove
Daniel Edmondstone
Daniel Edmondstone
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On October 6, 2011, the Competition Bureau ("Bureau") issued the final version of its revised Merger Enforcement Guidelines ("MEGs"). Intended to provide general direction on the agency's analytical approach to merger review under Part VIII of the Competition Act, the revised MEGs supercede both the previous 2004 version and the 2009 Efficiencies in Merger Review bulletin.

Although the new guidelines do not introduce fundamental departures from the Bureau's current policies and practices, they outline several nuanced shifts in the agency's economic and legal thinking. Notably, the MEGs illustrate changes in the Bureau's approach to the following areas:

  • the role of market definition in the anti-competitive effects analysis

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