Cross-Border Price Discrimination: Increased Powers For The Commissioner Of Competition

On December 9, 2014, new legislation, referred to as the Price Transparency Act, was tabled in Parliament to target "unjustified" cross-border price discrimination.¹ The proposed law is not intended to set or regulate prices in Canada, nor does it provide for penalties or other remedies. Instead, the Commissioner of Competition will be given powers and tools to investigate and "expose" gaps between U.S. and Canadian selling prices and the reasons for that difference.² Industry Minister James Moore has indicated that some higher prices are justified by legitimate higher costs of doing business on this side of the border. Within one year of receiving information that the Commissioner considers sufficient for the inquiry, the Commissioner must issue a public report setting out the conclusions of the inquiry. Minister Moore has said that it is then up to Canadians to decide if they want to continue supporting a particular company.