Update On Abuse Of Dominance: New Competition Bureau Guidance And First Private Access Application

The Competition Bureau's new guidance on and the amendments to the abuse of dominance provisions in the Competition Act significantly expand the scope of these provisions. These developments, coupled with private access to the Competition Tribunal, have the potential to significantly increase the use of the abuse of dominance provisions and enable private parties to resolve commercial disputes using the Competition Act.

There are three requirements that must be established to prove an abuse of dominance:

1. One or more persons must substantially or completely control a class or species of business throughout Canada or any area thereof;
2. That person or those persons must be engaging or have engaged (within the previous three years) in a practice of anti-competitive acts; and