Competition Litigation

Our lawyers have litigated many of Canada’s most high-profile Competition Act (Act) cases. These include the first abuse of dominance case to reach the Supreme Court of Canada, the only Federal Court of Appeal decision to address patents under the Act, the only (civil) price maintenance case, the first case considering the Act’s competitor collaboration provisions, the only appellate level case on the application of the Act’s cartel provisions to agreements between purchasers of goods or services, the only Competition Tribunal case to address the Regulated Conduct Doctrine, and numerous cases developing standards for cartel prosecutions and class action certification and defences in the cartel context.

Blakes lawyers are extensively involved in the increasingly important area of antitrust class actions. We have represented defendants in leading antitrust class actions, including the Supreme Court of Canada’s seminal Pro-Sys decision and, more recently, the court’s decision in Godfrey. Blakes lawyers have had leading roles in almost every significant competition class action in Canada, including with respect to credit cards, computer operating systems and applications, ODDs, beer, bread, air cargo, auto parts, capacitors, car carrier services, chemicals, chocolate, CRTs, DRAM memory chips, hydrogen peroxide, LCDs, lithium ion batteries, polyurethane foam, rubber and vitamins, such as the vitamins case that became the first major class action of its kind. Our lawyers have also been involved in every major cartel investigation in Canada and have secured immunity and leniency in relation to some of Canada's most high-profile cartel cases and follow-on private (class) actions.

Blakes is also at the forefront of competition merger litigation. There are six merger cases that form the primary body of merger jurisprudence in Canada. Blakes has represented the parties in all five of the cases in which the parties were successful (Southam, CP Ships, Hillsdown, Superior Propane and Labatt). Most recently, Blakes represented United Continental Airlines (regarding its alliance agreements with Air Canada) and Office Depot, Inc. (regarding its merger with Staples, Inc.) before the Competition Tribunal. In addition, Blakes lawyers have acted as litigation counsel in some of the most vigorously contested “consent order” cases where there was concerted opposition by intervenors such as Chapters/Indigo, Interac and Imperial Oil.

As a leading competition law firm, we have represented numerous clients in connection with confidential abuse of dominance investigations or inquiries conducted by the Competition Bureau, some of which became public upon proceeding to litigation, such as e-books, Vancouver Airport Authority, Air Canada/CanJet, Tele-Direct and Nutrasweet. We acted as lead counsel in the Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada in Canada Pipe, the first of only two abuse of dominance cases to go to those courts, and the Supreme Court of Canada in the only other such abuse of dominance case, TREB. Blakes also acted for Visa Inc. in respect of a landmark Competition Tribunal case under the reviewable price maintenance provision of the Act. Blakes lawyers have also represented clients in refusal-to-deal cases that went to the Competition Tribunal, such as Fred Deeley and Wyeth.

We are at the forefront of deceptive marketing and advertising cases, including in litigated matters where we represented Bell Aliant in defence of a successful injunction relating to misleading advertising claims; The Yellow Pages Group, the complainant, in a landmark prosecution by the Commissioner against a company that was misrepresenting itself as Yellow Pages; and the Commissioner in his recent investigation of FlightHub/JustFly, resulting in the first temporary consent agreement under the Act.

Much of the Firm's work in the litigation area involves strategic advice to best position matters for success in the event of litigation. We also provide prudent advice concerning the structuring of business transactions and the conduct of business affairs to prevent problems before they lead to litigation.

Recent Experience

The Toronto Real Estate Board in its appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in connection with a Competition Bureau challenge under the Competition Act.
Dow Chemical in its C$1-billion-plus litigation with NOVA Chemicals Corporation with respect to operation of facilities under a joint venture.
Samsung Electronics Canada Inc. in connection with the scope of competition law class actions and the tests for certification of such actions (Pioneer Corp. v. Godfrey).
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. with respect to various class action proceedings in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec involving alleged price-fixing with respect to optical disk drives in violation of the Competition Act.
Qualcomm Incorporated in respect of national class actions related to cell-phone technology.
Labatt Brewing Company Limited with respect to a class action brought in Ontario against the LCBO, The Beer Store and a certain number of Labatt shareholders.
Office Depot, Inc. with respect to the Competition Bureau’s challenge of its merger with Staples, Inc.
Nestlé Canada Inc. in its successful defence of alleged violations of the criminal conspiracy provisions of the Competition Act and in defence of a national class action alleging conspiracy to fix prices of chocolate.
Microsoft Corporation with respect to a class action alleging anti-competitive conduct with respect to operating systems and applications software.
Visa Canada Inc. in its successful defence of a price maintenance application filed by the Commissioner of Competition and defending and resolving national class actions.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. with respect to class action proceedings in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec involving alleged price-fixing regarding RoRo car carrier services.
Mohawk Industries, Inc. in a class action brought against manufacturers of carpet and carpet underlay foam in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec in respect of alleged price-fixing.
Imperial Oil before the Alberta Court of Appeal, where the trial decision concerning a civil conspiracy claim under the Competition Act was successfully reversed (321665 Alberta Ltd. v. Husky Oil Operations Ltd.).
Clients in various industries to defend them against cartel prosecutions and class actions in respect of (numerous) auto parts, audio-video products, car carrier (vessel) services, chemicals, flooring, insulation, vitamins and, most recently, for global companies such as Autoliv, Mitsui OSK, Mohawk Industries and Yazaki, successfully securing dismissals, immunity or leniency and other resolutions.

Awards & Recognition

The Globe and Mail and Statista name Blakes the #1 firm for Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investments in Canada’s Best Law Firms 2025.
Members of our Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group are consistently ranked as leading practitioners in the following publications, including in the most recent editions:

Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Competition/Antitrust) – Ranks Blakes in Band 1, its top tier, and recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Julie Soloway, Micah Wood and Kevin MacDonald as leading lawyers.
The Legal 500 Canada (Competition and Antitrust) – Ranks Blakes in its top tier and recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Julie Soloway and Kevin MacDonald as leading lawyers.
Global Competition Review’s GCR 100 – Ranks the Blakes Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group in the “Elite” category, the review’s highest designation.
Lexology Index: Foreign Investment Control – Recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Navin Joneja and Julie Soloway as leading regulatory and transactional lawyers.
Lexology Index: Competition – Recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Kevin MacDonald, Julie Soloway and Micah Wood as leading lawyers and Jonathan Bitran as a Future Leader.
Lexology Index: Thought Leaders – Competition – Recognizes Brian Facey, Navin Joneja and Julie Soloway.
Lexology Index: Canada (Competition) – Recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Kevin MacDonald, Julie Soloway and Micah Wood as leading lawyers across the country.
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Competition Law) – Ranks Blakes in its top tier and recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Julie Soloway and Micah Wood as leading lawyers.
Lexpert's Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada (Competition Law) – Recognizes Brian Facey and Navin Joneja as leading lawyers.
The Best Lawyers in Canada (Competition/Antitrust Law) – Names Brian Facey as Lawyer of the Year (2024) and recognizes Jonathan Bitran, Cassandra Brown, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja and Julie Soloway.
Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys (Competition/Antitrust) – Recognizes Catherine Beagan-Flood, Jeff Galway, Randall Hofley, Claude Marseille, Dalton McGrath and James Sullivan for their expertise in competition litigation.
Global Competition Review’s Women in Antitrust – Ranks Julie Soloway as one of the world’s leading women lawyers in competition law.