Competition Bureau commissioner Matthew Boswell says new research from the bureau finds the competition intensity in the country has decreased over the last two decades.
Boswell shared the initial findings of a new report during a speech he delivered Thursday at Canada’s Competition Summit, a conference hosted by the bureau.
The commissioner said the bureau has been studying competition across sectors over two decades and will be publishing a report in the coming weeks.
“Overall, we found that Canada’s competitive intensity has decreased from 2000 to 2020. Our findings in the report are quite striking and provide further support for a significant course correction in his country,” Boswell said.
He also stressed the need for all levels of government to step up and help stimulate competition in the country.
“Now is the time to look at how all of us in the public sector and all levels of government, municipal, provincial, territorial and federal, can stimulate our economy by addressing restrictions that harm the competitive process,” the commissioner said.
The Liberals have introduced new legislation that would amend the Competition Act to address what some experts have called weaknesses in the law.
The federal government has also promised to conduct a larger overhaul of the law, but it has not provided a timeline for those changes.
