Competition Bureau strengthens relationship with five foreign counterparts to enhance cross-border enforcement

Today, the Competition Bureau signed a new competition enforcement framework with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the New Zealand Commerce Commission, the United Kingdom Competition & Markets Authority, the United States Department of Justice and the United States Federal Trade Commission.

The Multilateral Mutual Assistance and Cooperation Framework for Competition Authorities (MMAC) will improve the Bureau’s ability to cooperate with these five counterparts in an increasingly digital and global economy.

The MMAC will enable its signatories to cooperate more effectively on investigations, share their experiences and work on joint projects, including inter-organizational training initiatives. The MMAC also includes a template that agencies can use to establish bilateral or multilateral cooperation instruments focused on investigative assistance, like sharing confidential information and cross-border evidence gathering.

Building and maintaining strong partnerships improves the Bureau’s ability to deliver results for Canadians. By investing in its relationships with competition agencies and other law enforcement partners, the Bureau can strengthen its ability to protect Canada’s competitive marketplace, address cross-border anti-competitive activity, and promote convergence on competition policies internationally.