The Competition Bureau Canada announced last Friday that it has increased the filing fee for merger reviews to $88,690.45 from $86,358.76, effective Apr. 1.
An annual adjustment – as described in the federal Service Fees Act, 2017 – led to this raised fee, according to a news release of the Competition Bureau.
The filing fee is applicable to parties filing a pre-merger notification or requesting an advance ruling certificate, the Competition Bureau’s news release said. The fee seeks to support the Competition Bureau’s merger review mandate and to assist it in meeting its service standards, the news release said.
Under the Competition Act, 1985, entities should notify the Competition Bureau if proposed transactions such as mergers or acquisitions meet a certain threshold, the news release explained. In such cases, the Competition Bureau reviews the notifiable transactions to decide whether they are likely to substantially prevent or lessen competition, the news release said.
Pre-merger notification threshold
On Feb. 28, 2024, the Competition Bureau announced that it would not be changing the pre-merger notification threshold based on transaction size, the news release said. This announcement came after the federal minister of innovation, science, and industry’s decision to keep the previous threshold, the Competition Bureau’s news release noted.
The federal competition commissioner reviews mergers of all sizes and in all economic sectors. Under the Competition Act, the competition commissioner should generally receive advanced notice of proposed transactions when:
- the target’s assets in Canada or its revenues from sales in or from Canada generated from such assets are more than $93 million, and
- the combined Canadian assets or revenues of the parties and their respective affiliates in, from, or into Canada are over $400 million
Under the Competition Act’s merger provisions, the minister of innovation, science, and industry annually reviews this threshold. The minister may do so by using the indexing mechanism provided in the Competition Act or by imposing a different amount to be determined by regulation, the Competition Bureau’s news release explained.
Alternatively, the minister may refrain from making an adjustment for that particular year, the news release said. In such a case, the minister will maintain the same threshold used in the previous year, the news release added.