S-239, the proposed Canadian Prosperity Act, would amend section 10.1 of the Competition Act. Its stated goal is to let the Commissioner of Competition recommend ways to address barriers to trade within Canada that, in the Commissioner’s opinion, unduly affect competition.
The Commissioner may include recommendations in a market or industry inquiry report. A recommendation may concern a law, regulation, rule, order or by-law.
The Commissioner must send the report to the head of the federal or provincial institution receiving a recommendation.
A federal institution head must respond within 120 days. A provincial institution head may respond within 120 days.
The Commissioner must publish a federal response, and must publish a provincial response or a notice that none was received.
These are proposed provisions, not provisions in force under the bill as supplied. The text does not say when they would start.
Federal and provincial institutions: Their heads would have to respond to recommendations directed to them if they are federal; provincial heads could respond but would not have to. The definitions cover government departments and certain boards, commissions and Crown corporations; provincial institutions also include municipalities.
Commissioner of Competition: The Commissioner could make recommendations about barriers affecting competition in the inquiry’s market or industry, or a related market or industry in Canada. The bill does not require the Commissioner to make a recommendation.
Businesses and the public: A recommendation could lead to a published institutional response, but the bill would not require an institution to accept a recommendation or change a law or rule. It does not directly change taxes, fees, fines or private rights.
Territorial and Indigenous institutions: The definition of federal institution excludes territorial institutions and Indian bands, band councils and other bodies established to perform government functions in relation to an Indian band or other Indigenous group.
No publicly available information on the bill’s costs is included in the supplied material.
The bill would require the Commissioner to send reports and publish responses or notices, and federal institution heads to prepare responses. These duties could require staff time, but no estimate is provided.
No spending, fee, tax or fine is set out in the supplied text.
The current text of the Competition Act is not supplied, so the existing inquiry process and how these proposed changes would fit with it cannot be verified.
The bill does not define “unduly” or explain how the Commissioner would decide which institution is responsible for a barrier.
It does not set out a process for making or challenging recommendations, or require institutions to act on them.
It gives federal heads 120 days to respond, but does not set a separate deadline for publishing a response. It also does not set a publication deadline for a provincial response or no-response notice.
No publicly available information on a start date is included in the supplied material.
The bill appears intended to let the Competition Commissioner identify government rules that may hinder competition across provincial or other boundaries.
A possible argument for the approach is that the Commissioner could bring such barriers to the attention of the institution able to address them.
Publishing responses could make it easier for the public to see whether institutions answered the recommendations.
The bill would leave decisions about changing laws and rules with the institutions that control them.