Background
On June 23, 2022, significant amendments were made to
Canada's Competition Act (the
"Act") which will undoubtedly impact
commercial and employment practices in Canada.1 While
the majority of the amendments to the Act came into force
immediately, specific amendments relating to wage-fixing and
no-poaching agreements were held in abeyance and will not come into
force until June 23, 2023. When these amendments do come into
force, it will be a criminal offence for employers to agree to fix,
maintain, decrease or control wages or other terms of employment,
or to enter agreements to not solicit or hire each other's
employees.
Upon coming into force, the wage-fixing and no-poaching
prohibitions will form part of the criminal conspiracy provisions
in Section 45 of the Act, which is reserved for agreements between
competitors to fix prices, allocate markets or restrict output,
also known as "naked restraints" on competition. Other
forms of competitor
