The Competition Bureau released its 2024-2025 Annual Plan, "Onwards and Upwards: Strengthening Competition for Canadians."
According to the Bureau, the annual plan focuses on utilizing recent amendments to the Competition Act to enhance its enforcement and advocacy efforts, which will benefit both consumers and businesses.
In the coming year, the Bureau will prioritize several key actions, including implementing new enforcement measures. The Bureau aims to leverage the strengthened Competition Act provisions, to address anti-competitive activities using all available tools. These measures aim to prevent, detect, and halt practices that hinder competition.
Furthermore, the Bureau will focus on sectors that impact Canadians most significantly, prioritizing actions that promote affordability and consumer choice. It will also conduct a new market study under the act's updated framework to explore increasing competition in a crucial economic sector.
The Bureau has committed to advocating for a pro-competition approach. By fostering a whole-of-government approach, the Bureau will push for policies at all levels that encourage competition rather than restrict it. The Bureau also plans to enhance workforce diversity and refine enforcement strategies to align with evolving business practices and digital economy advancements.
Matthew Boswell, commissioner of competition, emphasized that these efforts will align with the Bureau's Strategic Vision, which is built on three pillars—enforcement, competition promotion, and internal investment. Boswell remarked, "The Government of Canada recently made significant changes to the Competition Act. These changes have strengthened the Bureau's ability to protect and promote competition for the benefit of both consumers and businesses."
Boswell highlighted that the Bureau's commitment to rigorous enforcement and promotion will help maintain a level playing field across the economy. "In the coming year, we will focus on leveraging the new tools in our toolbox as we take enforcement action and promote competition so all Canadians can benefit from lower prices, better services, and more choice," he added.