New bulletin on corporate compliance

The Competition Bureau has released its final bulletin on corporate compliance. The bulletin is an effort to encourage all companies to develop programs ensuring that they are compliant with Canada’s various competition statutes. Although some might think that the legislation falling under the Competition Bureau’s mandate (Competition Act, Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, Textile Labelling Act, and Precious Metals Marking Act) only applies to public companies, the bureau investigates illegal practices in all businesses. Deceptive marketing, tied selling, legalities of “loyalty” programs, pricing below cost, selling or marketing through telemarketing, full disclosure in advertising- these are issues in businesses of all sizes.    

The compliance program detailed in the bulletin seems complicated, especially for smaller companies. But you may find the due diligence checklist at the end of the bulletin useful.

There’s an incentive to developing a compliance program for your company: if you have a compliance program and you still contravene the legislation, your penalties may be reduced.