Gearing Up For Change: A New Look Merger-control Regime

This bulletin is the second in our subject-matter specific series explained in the article: " A New Playing Field: Summarizing Sweeping Reforms to the Canadian Competition Act", which summarizes key changes to Canada's Competition Act (the "Act"). Over the last two years, the Act has been substantially reformed through three separate rounds of amendments, most recently on June 20, 2024, by Bill C-59, known as The Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act¹.

The amendments to the merger control section will substantively and procedurally change certain aspects of the merger review process for most businesses. This bulletin will explain those changes and provide important takeaways to help your business conduct transaction planning.