Publication

The Competition Bureau is increasing the size-of-transaction threshold for merger notification to C$50 million, meaning fewer small mergers will require notification. This is one of two financial thresholds that must be exceeded before a transaction must be notified to the Bureau (the other threshold relates to the size of the parties). For those mergers which do require notification, however, it will now cost more in filing fees, with the fees increasing from C$25,000 to C$50,000.

The changes will not affect the size-of-parties threshold which requires the parties to a transaction and their affiliates to have C$400 million of assets in Canada or sales in, from, or into Canada. This threshold will remain at its current level. The size-of-parties threshold will not increase because the Bureau believes it is still relatively high in comparison with other countries.

The size-of-transaction threshold for amalgamations will also remain unchanged. That threshold is C$70 million.

In addition, written opinions issued by the Commissioner of Competition, formerly known as advisory opinions, will be legally binding on the Commissioner. It will also cost more to apply for such opinions and, given that they are binding, they will likely be harder to obtain.

To summarize, the following changes will come into effect on April 1, 2003:

• The size-of-transaction threshold for merger notifications (other than amalgamations) will increase from C$35 million to C$50 million;
• Merger notification and advance ruling certificate fees will increase from C$25,000 to C$50,000;
• Amendments to Section 124.1 of the Competition Act will come into force, making written opinions legally binding on the Commissioner; and
• Fees for opinions on proposed business conduct will also increase.

A revised Fee and Service Standards Handbook and answers to Frequently Asked Questions are available under Business Services on the Bureau's Web site at http://www.cb-bc.gc.ca/.

 Back to Publications