Relevant legislation and statutory standards

Canadian merger law in its modern form began with the 1986 amendments to the Competition Act. After many years of attempted reform of the Combines Investigation Act, which had its origins in the nineteenth century and a criminal approach to the regulation of mergers, the 1986 amendments created a civil ‘reviewable practices’ regime that recognised the generally economically beneficial effect of mergers and created a framework for review that was based in contemporary economic thinking about mergers and their effects on markets.

Structure and content of the Competition Act

The Act is the primary law governing competition in Canada. Providing a single regime for the review and control of mergers, the Act is complemented by the Notifiable Transaction Regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act and by the Competition Tribunal Act. The Act is divided into 11 parts, the two of most relevance to merger review being Part VIII (‘Matters Reviewable by the Tribunal’) and Part IX (‘Notifiable Transactions’).