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ARTICLE · 24 JANUARY 2023

Competition Bureau Issues Draft Guidelines On Wage-Fixing And No-Poaching Agreements: What You Need To Know

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On June 23, 2022, Bill C-19, also known as the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No.1 ("BIA"), received royal assent. As discussed in more detail in our previous blog post...

CanadaAntitrust/Competition Law
Antonio Di Domenico
Antonio Di Domenico
Chris Margison
Chris Margison
Peter Mangaly
Peter Mangaly
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On June 23, 2022, Bill C-19, also known as the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No.1 ("BIA"), received royal assent. As discussed in more detail in our previous blog post, the BIA included significant amendments to the Competition Act (the "Act"), including the addition of new criminal cartel provisions prohibiting so-called wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements, which will become effective as of June 23, 2023. More specifically, these provisions will prohibit agreements between unaffiliated employers to either "fix, maintain, decrease or control salaries, wages or terms and conditions of employment" or "not solicit or hire employees".

In advance of these new provisions coming into force, the Competition Bureau (the "Bureau") has released draft guidelines that describe its approach to the interpretation and application of these provisions (the "Guidelines"). Interested parties have been invited to provide comments on the Guidelines by no later than March 3, 2023.

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