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ARTICLE · 26 SEPTEMBER 2024

Competition Bureau Outlines Strict Approach To Property Controls In Preliminary Enforcement Guidance

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In response to recent amendments to the Competition Act (the Act), the Competition Bureau (the Bureau) has issued preliminary enforcement guidance (Guidance) outlining its strict approach...

CanadaAntitrust/Competition Law
Charlene Schafer
Charlene Schafer
Nooreen Bhanji
Nooreen Bhanji
Ian Li
Ian Li
Robin Asgari
Robin Asgari
Omar Wakil
Omar Wakil
Dany Assaf
Dany Assaf
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In response to recent amendments to the Competition Act (the Act), the Competition Bureau (the Bureau) has issued preliminary enforcement guidance (Guidance) outlining its strict approach to property controls (specifically, exclusivity clauses in commercial leases and restrictive covenants that run with lands) on commercial real estate. It discusses when they are justified and how the Bureau will pursue enforcement action with respect to potentially competitively harmful property controls. Final guidance will be informed by an ongoing public consultation process through which businesses and other stakeholders may make submissions up to October 7, 2024.

What you need to know

  • New preliminary enforcement guidance on property controls. The Bureau takes the general view that property controls "insulate firms from competition" and "by their nature ... can raise serious competition concerns". As such, they see only limited instances in which property controls are

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