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ARTICLE · 28 MAY 2021

Hub And Spoke Conspiracies – What's My Exposure?

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As noted in our prior blog post titled "New Competitor Collaboration Guidelines", the updated Competitor Collaboration Guidelines (the "CCGs")

CanadaAntitrust/Competition Law
Chris Margison
Chris Margison
Justine Reisler
Justine Reisler
Robin Spillette
Robin Spillette
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As noted in our prior blog post titled "New Competitor Collaboration Guidelines", the updated Competitor Collaboration Guidelines (the "CCGs") issued earlier this month include a new hypothetical example of an illegal "hub and spoke" conspiracy among a mid-stream distributor and the retailers selling its products. As discussed in more detail below, this example suggests that the Competition Bureau (the "Bureau") intends to take a relatively broad and expansive approach to hub and spoke conspiracies - one that is not entirely supported by existing case law in Canada.

This blog post includes an overview of the conspiracy provisions in the Competition Act (the "Act"), a summary of hub and spoke conspiracies, a discussion of the new example in the CCGs and some practical advice on what businesses can do to minimize the risk of issues arising under the Act.

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