Spring Cleaning: Changes To Affiliation Provisions And Filing Fees For Pre-Merger Notification

Two important changes to the Competition Act (Act) merger review regime have arrived with the end of a seemingly-interminable Canadian winter. First, the Act's affiliation provisions have been amended to apply in a more consistent manner to different types of business associations (such as corporations, partnerships, and trusts). By treating different types of entities more consistently, the amended Act will, among other things, no longer require Competition Bureau (Bureau) notification of transactions between parties that were related but not previously considered "affiliates" under the Act. Second, the Bureau's longstanding $50,000 fee for merger notification filings and Advance Ruling Certificate (ARC) requests has increased by more than 40% to $72,000, and will now be subject to inflation-indexing.