Harper Government introduces legislation to tackle geographic price discrimination
December 9, 2014 – Etobicoke, Ontario – Industry Canada
The unexplained and often significant gap between Canadian and U.S. prices for the same products is a frustrating and all-too-familiar reality for any Canadian who has ever shopped online or travelled to the United States.
Today, Industry Minister James Moore announced new legislation to help ensure Canadians are not charged higher prices than Americans simply because of where they live.
The Price Transparency Act will help tackle the practice of geographic price discrimination, one of the key contributors to the Canada–U.S. price gap. Today's announcement provides the Commissioner of Competition with the tools necessary to investigate alleged cases of price discrimination and to publicly report situations where consumers are unfairly targeted with higher prices. The Commissioner will be authorized to seek court orders to compel the production of evidence to expose discriminatory pricing practices that are not justified by higher costs in Canada and to publicly report to consumers on the findings.
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Jake Enwright
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Industry
343-291-2500
Media Relations
Industry Canada
343-291-1777
media-relations@ic.gc.ca
