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Canada: CCB celebrates 130 years of competition law in Canada

By  |  May 2, 2019

On May 2, 1889, Canada’s 6th Parliament enacted the first antitrust statute in the industrial world: An Act for the Prevention and Suppression of Combinations Formed in Restraint of Trade, also better known as the Anti-Combines Act.

Let’s go back to 1889. Imagine the context: Queen Victoria ruled, people traveled by horse and carriage, the telephone was a new invention and the creation of the internet was still a century away.

However, there was one thing in common with today: the idea that both consumers and businesses have the right to fair competition in the marketplace.

The struggle between competitors in a free and open market drives entrepreneurship and innovation. Competition leads to lower prices and more choice for Canadian consumers. Competition increases productivity and makes the Canadian economy more competitive globally.

Since 1986, the Competition Bureau has enforced Canada’s competition laws, protecting competition in the marketplace and upholding values that are foundational to the economy—values nearly as old as Canada itself.

Full Content: Competición Bureau

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