{"id":930274,"date":"2026-10-12T13:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T13:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/930274\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T13:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T13:24:12","slug":"domestic-competition-vital-in-attracting-investments-says-competition-bureaus-pratt-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/930274\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic competition vital in attracting investments, says Competition Bureau\u2019s Pratt \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canada\u2019s competition watchdog says a healthy market at home is key to strengthening the economy as trade tensions with the United States worsen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat 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,\u201d said Jeanne Pratt, Competition Bureau acting commissioner, in an interview.<\/p>\n

She said competition is a crucial lever \u201cin the current context where we need to lock in as much productivity in our domestic economy as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Jeanne
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJeanne Pratt, acting Competition Commissioner, is shown at the Competition Bureau in Gatineau, Que., on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Justin Tang<\/p>\n

Canada-U.S. relations were upended with Donald Trump\u2019s 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 \u2014 and countermeasures \u2014 were launched.<\/p>\n

To shore up the domestic economy, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to diversify the country\u2019s trading partners and pitch Canada as a safe haven for global investors, in hopes of attracting billions of dollars to major projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pratt said fair competition is central to making Canada a better trading partner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCompetition stimulates businesses to make investments and innovate. It stimulates companies to offer the lowest possible prices,\u201d she said. \u201cIt stimulates companies to find cost efficiencies in their production.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Competition Bureau polices businesses on anticompetitive behaviours which can stifle innovation, limit consumer choice and drive up costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robin Shaban, chair of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, agrees that there\u2019s an obvious link between competition and foreign investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Shaban pointed to a decade ago, when former prime minister Stephen Harper\u2019s government pushed for policies that would attract a fourth player in the telecom industry and break the oligopoly long held by three telecom giants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A large enough fourth player didn\u2019t emerge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf doing that means that (companies) will face years of rock-bottom pricing from the firms that are already in the marketplace and they\u2019re not going to make money, well then they\u2019re not going to enter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But the same dynamics don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Tensions with the U.S., meanwhile, could signal a shifting relationship with the bureau\u2019s American counterpart.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has changed under Trump,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, she said there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of uncertainty there that the Competition Bureau is going to have to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Pratt said eroding trade relationships between the two countries doesn\u2019t change the bureau\u2019s focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating and deepening international and domestic relationships remains a key part of our strategic vision for promoting competition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs economic and trade conditions evolve, competitive markets are more important than ever because competition helps drive affordability, innovation and economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Canada, the bureau has doubled down on its efforts to block mergers that could lead to industry concentration \u2014 with a keen eye on the food and grocery sector.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Sign<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, food giants Nortera and B&G Foods called off a deal that would\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

Blocking such deals isn\u2019t meant to hurt a company\u2019s ability to scale abroad, Pratt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be frank, we view competition as a complement to international competitiveness. They\u2019re not in conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s competition watchdog says a healthy market at home is key to strengthening the economy as trade tensions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-930274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}