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ARTICLE · 11 JULY 2007

Canada Enacts New Prior Approval Process for Transportation Mergers

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
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On June 22, 2007, amendments to Canada's principal federal transportation legislation, the Canada Transportation Act, came into force. Among other things, the amendments establish a new "public interest" review process for mergers involving "transportation undertakings" falling under federal jurisdiction.

CanadaTransport
George Addy
George Addy
Anita Banicevic
Anita Banicevic
Mark Katz
Mark Katz
Hillel Rosen
Hillel Rosen
John Bodrug
John Bodrug
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On June 22, 2007, amendments to Canada's principal federal transportation legislation, the Canada Transportation Act ("CTA"), came into force. Among other things, the amendments establish a new "public interest" review process for mergers involving "transportation undertakings" falling under federal jurisdiction. The new CTA process is additional to – and to some degree supersedes – the current merger review process under the Competition Act. The CTA process has been enacted notwithstanding concerns about how it will apply in practice and the impact it may have on mergers in the transportation industry.

Public Interest Review Under the CTA

The new CTA merger review provisions apply to transactions that "involve a transportation undertaking" and that are subject to pre-merger notification under the Competition Act. (Pursuant to Part IX of the Competition Act, and subject to certain exemptions, proposed transactions exceeding specified financial thresholds must be notified to the

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