Competition Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-34)

Marginal note:Admissibility of statistics

• 70 (1) A collection, compilation, analysis, abstract or other record or report of statistical information prepared or published under the authority of

  • (a) the Statistics Act, or

  • (b) any other enactment of Parliament or of the legislature of a province,

  is admissible in evidence in any proceedings before the Tribunal or in any prosecution or proceedings before a court under or pursuant to this Act.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) On request from the Minister or the Commissioner

  • (a) the Chief Statistician of Canada or an officer of any department or agency of the Government of Canada the functions of which include the gathering of statistics shall, and

  • (b) an officer of any department or agency of the government of a province the functions of which include the gathering of statistics may,

  compile from his or its records a statement of statistics relating to any industry or sector thereof, in accordance with the terms of the request, and any such statement is admissible in evidence in any proceedings before the Tribunal or in any prosecution or proceedings before a court under or pursuant to this Act.

• Marginal note:Privileged information not affected

  (3) Nothing in this section compels or authorizes the Chief Statistician of Canada or any officer of a department or agency of the Government of Canada to disclose any particulars relating to an individual or business in a manner that is prohibited by any provision of an enactment of Parliament or of a provincial legislature designed for the protection of those particulars.

• Marginal note:Certificate

  (4) In any proceedings before the Tribunal, or in any prosecution or proceedings before a court under or pursuant to this Act, a certificate purporting to be signed by the Chief Statistician of Canada or the officer of the department or agency of the Government of Canada or of a province under whose supervision a record, report or statement of statistics referred to in this section was prepared, setting out that the record, report or statement of statistics attached thereto was prepared under his supervision, is evidence of the facts alleged therein without proof of the signature or official character of the person by whom it purports to be signed.

Marginal note:Statistics collected by sampling methods

71 A collection, compilation, analysis, abstract or other record or report of statistics collected by sampling methods by or on behalf of the Commissioner or any other party to proceedings before the Tribunal, or to a prosecution or proceedings before a court under or pursuant to this Act, is admissible in evidence in that prosecution or those proceedings.

Marginal note:Notice

• 72 (1) No record, report or statement of statistical information or statistics referred to in section 70 or 71 shall be received in evidence before the Tribunal or court unless the person intending to produce the record, report or statement in evidence has given to the person against whom it is intended to be produced reasonable notice together with a copy of the record, report or statement and, in the case of a record or report of statistics referred to in section 71, together with the names and qualifications of those persons who participated in the preparation thereof.

• Marginal note:Attendance of statistician

  (2) Any person against whom a record or report of statistics referred to in section 70 is produced may require, for the purposes of cross-examination, the attendance of any person under whose supervision the record or report was prepared.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Any person against whom a record or report of statistics referred to in section 71 is produced may require, for the purposes of cross-examination, the attendance of any person who participated in the preparation of the record or report.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction of Federal Court

• 73 (1) Subject to this section, the Attorney General of Canada may institute and conduct any prosecution or other proceedings under section 34, any of sections 45 to 49 or, if the proceedings are on indictment, under section 52, 52.1, 53, 55, 55.1 or 66, in the Federal Court, and for the purposes of the prosecution or other proceedings, the Federal Court has all the powers and jurisdiction of a superior court of criminal jurisdiction under the Criminal Code and under this Act.

• Marginal note:No jury

  (2) The trial of an offence under Part VI or section 66 in the Federal Court shall be without a jury.

• Marginal note:Appeal

  (3) An appeal lies from the Federal Court to the Federal Court of Appeal and from the Federal Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in any prosecution or proceedings under Part VI or section 66 of this Act as provided in Part XXI of the Criminal Code for appeals from a trial court and from a court of appeal.

• Marginal note:Proceedings optional

  (4) Proceedings under subsection 34(2) may in the discretion of the Attorney General of Canada be instituted in either the Federal Court or a superior court of criminal jurisdiction in the province but no prosecution shall be instituted against an individual in the Federal Court in respect of an offence under Part VI or section 66 without the consent of the individual.

74 [Repealed, 1999, c. 2, s. 22]

PART VII.1Deceptive Marketing Practices

Reviewable Matters

Marginal note:Misrepresentations to public

• 74.01 (1) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of a product or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, by any means whatever,

  • (a) makes a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect;

  • (b) makes a representation to the public in the form of a statement, warranty or guarantee of the performance, efficacy or length of life of a product that is not based on an adequate and proper test thereof, the proof of which lies on the person making the representation;

  • (b.1) makes a representation to the public in the form of a statement, warranty or guarantee of a product’s benefits for protecting or restoring the environment or mitigating the environmental, social and ecological causes or effects of climate change that is not based on an adequate and proper test, the proof of which lies on the person making the representation;

  • (b.2) makes a representation to the public with respect to the benefits of a business or business activity for protecting or restoring the environment or mitigating the environmental and ecological causes or effects of climate change that is not based on adequate and proper substantiation in accordance with internationally recognized methodology, the proof of which lies on the person making the representation; or

  • (c) makes a representation to the public in a form that purports to be

    • (i) a warranty or guarantee of a product, or

    • (ii) a promise to replace, maintain or repair an article or any part thereof or to repeat or continue a service until it has achieved a specified result,

    if the form of purported warranty or guarantee or promise is materially misleading or if there is no reasonable prospect that it will be carried out.

• Marginal note:Drip pricing

  (1.1) For greater certainty, the making of a representation of a price that is not attainable due to fixed obligatory charges or fees constitutes a false or misleading representation, unless the obligatory charges or fees represent only an amount imposed on a purchaser of the product referred to in subsection (1) by or under an Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province.

• Marginal note:Ordinary price: suppliers generally

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), a person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of a product or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, by any means whatever, makes a representation to the public concerning the price at which a product or like products have been, are or will be ordinarily supplied where suppliers generally in the relevant geographic market, having regard to the nature of the product,

  • (a) have not sold a substantial volume of the product at that price or a higher price within a reasonable period of time before or after the making of the representation, as the case may be; and

  • (b) have not offered the product at that price or a higher price in good faith for a substantial period of time recently before or immediately after the making of the representation, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Ordinary price: supplier’s own

  (3) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of a product or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, by any means, makes a representation to the public as to the price at which a product or like products have been, are or will be ordinarily supplied by the person making the representation unless that person, having regard to the nature of the product and the relevant geographic market, establishes that

  • (a) they have sold a substantial volume of the product at that price or a higher price within a reasonable period of time before or after the making of the representation, as the case may be; or

  • (b) they have offered the product at that price or a higher price in good faith for a substantial period of time recently before or immediately after the making of the representation, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:References to time in subsections (2) and (3)

  (4) For greater certainty, whether the period of time to be considered in paragraphs (2)(a) and (b) and (3)(a) and (b) is before or after the making of the representation depends on whether the representation relates to

  • (a) the price at which products have been or are supplied; or

  • (b) the price at which products will be supplied.

• Marginal note:Saving

  (5) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to a person who establishes that, in the circumstances, a representation as to price is not false or misleading in a material respect.

• (6) [Repealed, 2009, c. 2, s. 422]

Marginal note:False or misleading representation — sender or subject matter information

• 74.011 (1) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, sends or causes to be sent a false or misleading representation in the sender information or subject matter information of an electronic message.

• Marginal note:False or misleading representation — electronic message

  (2) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, sends or causes to be sent in an electronic message a representation that is false or misleading in a material respect.

• Marginal note:False or misleading representation — locator

  (3) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, makes or causes to be made a false or misleading representation in a locator.

• Marginal note:Drip pricing

  (3.1) For greater certainty, the making of a representation of a price that is not attainable due to fixed obligatory charges or fees constitutes a false or misleading representation, unless the obligatory charges or fees represent only an amount imposed on a purchaser of the product referred to in subsections (1) to (3) by or under an Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province.

• Marginal note:Proof of deception not required

  (3.2) For greater certainty, in determining whether or not the person who made the representation engaged in the reviewable conduct, it is not necessary to establish that any person was deceived or misled.

• Marginal note:General impression to be considered

  (4) In proceedings under this section, the general impression conveyed by a representation as well as its literal meaning shall be taken into account in determining whether or not the person who made the representation engaged in the reviewable conduct.

• Marginal note:Interpretation

  (5) For the purposes of this section,

  • (a) an electronic message is considered to have been sent once its transmission has been initiated; and

  • (b) it is immaterial whether the electronic address to which an electronic message is sent exists or whether an electronic message reaches its intended destination.

Marginal note:Assisting foreign states

• 74.012 (1) The Commissioner may, for the purpose of assisting an investigation or proceeding in respect of the laws of a foreign state, an international organization of states or an international organization established by the governments of states that address conduct that is substantially similar to conduct that is reviewable under section 74.01, 74.011, 74.02, 74.04, 74.05 or 74.06,

  • (a) conduct any investigation that the Commissioner considers necessary to collect relevant information, using any powers that the Commissioner may use under this Act to investigate conduct that is reviewable under any of those sections; and

  • (b) disclose the information to the government of the foreign state or to the international organization, or to any institution of any such government or organization responsible for conducting investigations or initiating proceedings in respect of the laws in respect of which the assistance is being provided, if the government, organization or institution declares in writing that

    • (i) the use of the information will be restricted to purposes relevant to the investigation or proceeding, and

    • (ii) the information will be treated in a confidential manner and, except for the purposes mentioned in subparagraph (i), will not be further disclosed without the Commissioner’s express consent.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the contravention of the laws of the foreign state has consequences that would be considered penal under Canadian law.

• Marginal note:Mutual assistance

  (3) In deciding whether to provide assistance under subsection (1), the Commissioner shall consider whether the government, organization or institution agrees to provide assistance for investigations or proceedings in respect of any of the sections mentioned in subsection (1).

Marginal note:Representation as to reasonable test and publication of testimonials

74.02 A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of any product, or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, makes a representation to the public that a test has been made as to the performance, efficacy or length of life of a product by any person, or publishes a testimonial with respect to a product, unless the person making the representation or publishing the testimonial can establish that

• (a) such a representation or testimonial was previously made or published by the person by whom the test was made or the testimonial was given, or

• (b) such a representation or testimonial was, before being made or published, approved and permission to make or publish it was given in writing by the person by whom the test was made or the testimonial was given,

and the representation or testimonial accords with the representation or testimonial previously made, published or approved.