Competition Law Compliance Strategies: The Increasingly Complex And Challenging Mandate Facing Compliance Managers

Introduction

Today in Canada, more than ever before, companies and individual executives are relying on competition lawyers and in-house counsel for guidance in an increasingly complex world of regulatory compliance. This is in large part due to the fact that the costs of non compliance are increasing as consumers are becoming more proactive, the Competition Bureau (the "Bureau") is enforcing Canadian competition laws with more vigour,¹ enforcement agencies are sharing information across borders, record penalties are being imposed² and proposed administrative monetary penalties are nearing punitive heights. The same forces at play that make the role of competition lawyers and compliance managers more important are the same forces that make it more complex. These forces also create an impetus for modern effective competition law.