Hold My Popcorn: Canadian Competition Tribunal Decides First Case Under Competition Act's Amended Misleading Representations Provisions

Canada's Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) recently released its reasons in the first contested case to apply the amended misleading representations provisions of the Competition Act (Act). The Tribunal's decision assessed online representations by Cineplex Inc. about the price of its movie tickets, which the Commissioner of Competition (Commissioner) alleged to be false or misleading. The Tribunal ruled in favour of the Commissioner, finding that by adding a mandatory online booking fee that was not clearly and separately disclosed during the purchasing process, Cineplex contravened both the general misleading representations provisions and the recently enacted "drip pricing" provisions. The Tribunal has ordered Cineplex to, among other things, pay an administrative monetary penalty (AMP) of C$38.9 million, the highest AMP ordered to date under the Act. Cineplex has publicly stated that it will appeal the Tribunal's decision.