Quebec Company Fined $425,000 For Bid-Rigging

On July 19, Les Entreprises Promécanic Ltée (Promécanic) pleaded guilty to three counts of bid-rigging before the Superior Court of Quebec and was fined $425,000. The fine ranks among the largest ever imposed under the bid-rigging offence of the Competition Act.

The bid-rigging offence is provided for by section 47 of the Competition Act and prohibits bidders, in response to a call for bids or tenders, to agree to not submit a bid or to submit a bid that is the product of an agreement, when such an agreement is unbeknownst to the person calling for the bids. It is an indictable offence for which the sentence is a fine, the quantum being to the court's discretion, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years, or both. Collusion in the bidding process, the decision to not submit bids, bid rotation and bid sharing among bidders rank among the most widespread forms of bid-rigging.