Domestic competition vital in attracting investments, says Competition Bureau’s Pratt

Canada’s competition watchdog says a healthy market at home is key to strengthening the economy as trade tensions with the United States worsen. 

“That is one of the key drivers to make our domestic economy as productive as possible and to make us as competitive as an international participant in trading markets as possible,” said Jeanne Pratt, Competition Bureau acting commissioner, in an interview.

She said competition is a crucial lever “in the current context where we need to lock in as much productivity in our domestic economy as possible.”

Canada-U.S. relations were upended with Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year and the introduction of ever-changing tariff policies. The situation escalated again after trade talks between the countries faltered in August and new levies — and countermeasures — were launched.

To shore up the domestic economy, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to diversify the country’s trading partners and pitch Canada as a safe haven for global investors, in hopes of attracting billions of dollars to major projects. 

Pratt said fair competition is central to making Canada a better trading partner. 

“Competition stimulates businesses to make investments and innovate. It stimulates companies to offer the lowest possible prices,” she said. “It stimulates companies to find cost efficiencies in their production.”

The Competition Bureau polices businesses on anticompetitive behaviours which can stifle innovation, limit consumer choice and drive up costs. 

Robin Shaban, chair of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, agrees that there’s an obvious link between competition and foreign investments.

“When we have a lack of competition, it can make it more difficult for companies to actually enter and engage in the Canadian marketplace, which is not good for consumers,” she said.

Shaban pointed to a decade ago, when former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government pushed for policies that would attract a fourth player in the telecom industry and break the oligopoly long held by three telecom giants. 

A large enough fourth player didn’t emerge.

“If doing that means that (companies) will face years of rock-bottom pricing from the firms that are already in the marketplace and they’re not going to make money, well then they’re not going to enter,” she said.

But the same dynamics don’t apply across all sectors. For example, if the federal government is courting investments for public infrastructure, competition may not be the deciding factor for foreign investors looking to enter a marketplace, Shaban said.

Tensions with the U.S., meanwhile, could signal a shifting relationship with the bureau’s American counterpart.

Shaban said Canada and U.S. antitrust bodies have historically worked together on mergers that involved businesses with operations on both sides of the border.

“That has changed under Trump,” she said. 

Now, she said there’s a growing divergence in how Canada and the U.S. enforce competition law, which matters not just for collaboration, but also for the types of enforcement action that are taken.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty there that the Competition Bureau is going to have to figure out.”

The bureau has maintained a strong relationship with the U.S. for decades, collaborating on joint enforcement efforts, sharing information and co-operating on cross-border deals.

Pratt said eroding trade relationships between the two countries doesn’t change the bureau’s focus. 

“Creating and deepening international and domestic relationships remains a key part of our strategic vision for promoting competition,” she said.

“As economic and trade conditions evolve, competitive markets are more important than ever because competition helps drive affordability, innovation and economic growth.”

In Canada, the bureau has doubled down on its efforts to block mergers that could lead to industry concentration — with a keen eye on the food and grocery sector.

Earlier this month, food giants Nortera and B&G Foods called off a deal that would’ve seen Nortera buy the Green Giant and Le Sieur brands of canned and frozen vegetables in Canada from New Jersey-based B&G Foods. It came weeks after the bureau sought to block the deal on concerns it would further concentrate ownership of those products under Nortera.

Blocking such deals isn’t meant to hurt a company’s ability to scale abroad, Pratt said.

“There’s a difference between companies that have scale that can help them compete internationally, and companies that have market power that can be exercised at the expense of Canadians,” she said.

“To be frank, we view competition as a complement to international competitiveness. They’re not in conflict.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2026.