Program directory · Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Competition Law Enforcement and Promotion
- Program code
- BNP12 (ISC)
- Core responsibility
- Companies, Investment and Growth
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Competition Law Enforcement and Promotion program is delivered by the Competition Bureau, an independent law enforcement agency that ensures that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace. Headed by the Commissioner of Competition, the Bureau administers and enforces the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act (non-food products), the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act. A healthy competitive economy promotes innovation, increases productivity and benefits consumers and businesses with lower prices and more choices. The program promotes and increases compliance with the acts to ensure that anti-competitive conduct does not substantially hinder growth and innovation in the Canadian economy. It promotes and protects competition for the benefit of Canadians, deters and prevents anti-competitive behaviour, including Cartels, abuse of dominance and deceptive marketing practices. It also, reviews mergers to ensure they do not substantially prevent or lessen competition in the marketplace. This program supports the departmental result that “Businesses, Investors and Consumers are confident in the Canadian marketplace" under the Companies, Investment and Growth core responsibility.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Competition Law Enforcement and Promotion | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $358M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | Spending $55.4M, against $43.8M in 2021-22 (+27%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Employees (FTEs) 490, against 383 in 2023-24 (+28%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ $15.2B | 2019 | $23.9B 2018–19 result should have been compared to a target of $14,300,000,000; however, the result status would have remained the same (“target met”). | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ $15.1B | 2020 | $22.2B | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ $22.5B | 2021 | $19.7B The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. Additionally, the pandemic has had an impact on investigative steps, such as delays in court ordered productions and the inability to conduct searches and witness interviews due to restrictions. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ $18.8B | 2022 | $17.2B The variance is due to difficulty in being able to anticipate whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. Additionally, the pandemic has had an impact on investigative steps, such as delays in court ordered productions and the inability to conduct searches and witness interviews due to restrictions. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ $17B | 2023 | $11.5B The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. Additionally, the pandemic has had an impact on investigative steps, such as delays in court ordered productions and the inability to conduct searches and witness interviews due to restrictions. | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ $17.2B | 2024 | $13.3B 20 The Bureau calculates its targets based on the average of its actual results from the previous four years. The 2023-24 actual results were lower than targeted. The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ $15.5B | 2025 | $13.5B The Bureau calculates its targets based on the average of its actual results from the previous four years. The 2024-2025 actual results were lower than targeted. The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will become overt or conclude. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ $2.18B | 2019 | $3.5B 2018–19 result should have been compared to a target of $3,300,000,000; however, the result status would have remained the same (“target met”). | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ $3.2B | 2020 | $3.5B | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ $4.09B | 2021 | $3.5B The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. Additionally, the pandemic has had an impact on investigative steps, such as delays in court ordered productions and the inability to conduct searches and witness interviews due to restrictions. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ $3.7B | 2022 | $2.98B The variance is due to difficulty in being able to anticipate whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. Additionally, the pandemic has had an impact on investigative steps, such as delays in court ordered productions and the inability to conduct searches and witness interviews due to restrictions. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ $3.25B | 2023 | $2.72B The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. Additionally, the pandemic has had an impact on investigative steps, such as delays in court ordered productions and the inability to conduct searches and witness interviews due to restrictions. | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ $3.3B | 2024 | $2.26B 19 The Bureau calculates its targets based on the average of its actual results from the previous four years. The 2023-24 actual results were lower than targeted. The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will conclude. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ $3.2B | 2025 | $2.6B The Bureau calculates its targets based on the average of its actual results from the previous four years. The 2024-2025 actual results were lower than targeted. The variance between the targets and results can be explained by the difficulty in anticipating whether and how quickly investigations, which are very complex in nature, will become overt or conclude. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 85% | 2019 | 97% Complex matters: 91%; Non-Complex matters: 100%; Total: 97%. | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 85% | 2020 | 97% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 85% | 2021 | 94% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 85% | 2022 | 98.7% The total percentage of mergers reviewed within service standard out of all merger reviews concluded is 98.73%. When broken down by complex and non-complex matters, the service standard was met for 94.5% of complex matters and 100% of non-complex matters. | Met |
| 2022-23 | At least 90% for non-complex matters and 85% for complex matters | 2023 | The service standard was met for 92% of complex matters and 98.5% of non-complex matters. The total percentage of mergers reviewed within service standard out of all merger reviews concluded is 96%. The total percentage of mergers reviewed within service standard out of all merger reviews concluded is 96%. When broken down by complex and non-complex matters, the service standard was met for 92% of complex matters and 98.5% of non-complex matters. | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 85% | 2024 | 96% 98% for non-complex matters (122/124) 92% for complex matters (61/66) | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 85% | 2025 | 96% | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ $13.4B | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ $2.77B | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 85% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $39.2M | $39.9M |
| 2019-20 | $39.1M | $41.2M |
| 2020-21 | $40.4M | $39.8M |
| 2021-22 | $40.7M | $43.8M |
| 2022-23 | $52.3M | $55.4M |
| 2023-24 | $60.7M | $67.8M |
| 2024-25 | $66.6M | $70.1M |
| 2025-26 | $66.7M | — |
| 2026-27 | $66.4M | — |
| 2027-28 | $66.4M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $66.4M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 334 | 327 |
| 2019-20 | 331 | 343 |
| 2020-21 | 336 | 337 |
| 2021-22 | 336 | 327 |
| 2022-23 | 388 | 374 |
| 2023-24 | 368 | 383 |
| 2024-25 | 409 | 490 |
| 2025-26 | 484 | — |
| 2026-27 | 500 | — |
| 2027-28 | 471* | — |
| 2028-29 | 455* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $39,193,842 | $38,553,189 | $38,553,189 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $39,105,541 | $39,105,541 | $39,105,541 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $40,370,332 | $40,583,874 | $40,633,098 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $40,746,973 | $40,796,197 | $40,796,197 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $52,323,006 | $60,328,551 | $63,781,611 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $60,651,023 | $64,107,360 | $64,043,618 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $66,572,577 | $66,418,689 | $65,620,929 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $66,668,368 | $65,874,327 | $65,874,327 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $66,438,386 | $66,438,385 | $66,438,385 | ||||||||
| Actual | $39,881,928 | $41,179,819 | $39,838,836 | $43,762,608 | $55,445,713 | $67,803,445 | $70,072,291 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
