The Competitor : Canada Competition / Antitrust Blog by Stikeman Elliott Lawyers & Attorneys

Kim D.G. Alexander-Cook

Premier Fitness hit by $200,000 AMP and ten-year agreement

On November 27, 2007, the Competition Bureau announced that it filed with the Competition Tribunal a ten-year consent agreement with Premier Fitness Clubs, resolving concerns that membership advertising from 1999 to 2004 did not adequately disclose additional fees that consumers were obligated to pay to enjoy membership. Premier Fitness owns and operates thirty-five clubs in Ontario. Under the terms of the consent agreement, Premier Fitness must pay an administrative monetary penalty of $200,000; publish a corrective notice in certain newspapers; display a corrective notice in its clubs and on its Web site; implement a compliance policy to cover its marketing practices; and not make false or misleading representations in future promotional materials.

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On December 7, Canada's Industry Minister announced that the Government would apply special guidelines (the Guidelines) to the review of Canadian investments by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the Investment Canada Act (the ICA), Canada's foreign investment review legislation.  In brief, the Guidelines:

• Focus on the governance and commercial orientation of SOEs;
• Outline factors that the Government will use to assess adherence to Canadian standards of corporate governance;
• Identify considerations for determining whether the SOE will operate the Canadian business according to commercial principles;
• Offer examples of the types of binding commitments that SOEs may be required to provide.

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Susan M. Hutton

Canada's Competition Bureau released its report, Self-regulated professions - Balancing competition and regulation (the Report) on December 11, 2007 (see www.competition.gc.ca). According to a recent study by the Conference Board of Canada, labour productivity of the professions in Canada is about half that of the professions in the United States. Citing an OECD report that identified decreasing regulation of the professions as one of five key ways to improve the future prosperity of Canada, the Bureau report has specific proposals for improvement.

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As we approach the holiday season, recent changes to the laws in Ontario around gift cards should be borne in mind.  In particular, since October 1, 2007 gift cards can no longer be issued in Ontario with an expiry date, with very limited exceptions.  In most cases, if gift cards are issued with an expiry date, the law now requires that the expiry date be ignored.

Additionally, as a result of the amendments, gift cards must be issued for the full value of the payment by the consumer - no charge can be levied for the issuance of the card. Furthermore, any permitted fees and all restrictions, limitations and conditions that the supplier imposes must be set out in writing.

Click here to view the amended regulations to the Consumer Protection Act.

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