Jun 12, 2017

A Warning to Contractors and a Lesson for Regulators: Enforcement and Penalties Under the Consumer Protection Act

Virtually every regulator engages in some form of consumer protection. Concerns relating to false billing, misleading advertising, and the failure to deliver products and services can be found in nearly every regulatory statute. The vigour with which regulators seek the most serious remedies relating to these consumer protection issues is, however, quite variable. In some cases, the media has criticized regulators for not revoking a registrant’s registration when they have been found guilty of professional misconduct for false or misleading billings.

Jan 9, 2017

No Bidding Around: The Competition Bureau Targets Bid-Riggers in 2017

Over the past few years, we have written and presented extensively about how Canada’s Competition Bureau has cracked down on price-fixing and bid-rigging in Canada’s construction industry. In December of 2016, the Bureau announced that as a result of several recent discoveries of illegal bidding practices, it will be intensifying its efforts to identify and prevent bid-rigging, with a particular focus on provincial and municipal infrastructure projects.