OTTAWA — The Competition Bureau today published its strategic vision for how it will deliver the benefits of competition to Canadians from 2020 to 2024.
“Our Strategic Vision outlines how we will focus our efforts and renew the Competition Bureau in today’s digital age over the coming four years. It will be a guide for our work in establishing the Bureau as a world-leading competition agency at the forefront of the digital economy and as a champion of a culture of competition for Canada,” said Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, in the news release.
The Bureau will execute its vision through strong enforcement and promotion activities that will focus on sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, health, online marketing and infrastructure, the release says.
Over the next four years, the Bureau will:
- Host an annual Digital Enforcement Summit. These events will bring together domestic and foreign partners to foster an exchange around the challenges and opportunities for competition enforcement in the digital age.
- Create a Digital Enforcement Office that will provide specialized technological assistance to support the Bureau’s work.
By focusing its enforcement and advocacy efforts on the digital economy, the Bureau aims to foster continued economic growth while protecting Canadians from anti-competitive and deceptive conduct, the release says.
As part of its enforcement efforts, the Bureau plans to use new and innovative tools “to enhance our capabilities to process large volumes of data and digital evidence, enabling investigations to hone in on probative evidence more quickly,” according to the strategic vision document published online here.
In addition to hosting an annual Digital Enforcement Summit, the Bureau says it will:
- Use all of the tools at its disposal to address anti-competitive activity, including interim orders.
- Expand its proactive intelligence gathering efforts across the Bureau.
- Use new intelligence-gathering tools, such as advanced analytical models, algorithms, automated processes and artificial intelligence capabilities.
In its efforts to promote competition in Canada, the Bureau will:
- Provide advice to regulators and policymakers in sectors of importance to Canada’s economy through influential advocacy initiatives, ranging from market studies to more targeted opportunities.
- Deepen its relationships with key international and domestic partners.
- Focus its fraud prevention and deceptive marketing practices outreach on at-risk segments of Canada’s population.
- Publish new and updated guidance on processes, enforcement policies and transparency.
- Broaden its outreach efforts to Canadian businesses and adapt them to the digital economy.
Finally, the Bureau says it will invest in its organization to support the continuous learning and development of its people while modernizing its processes and technology. In addition to creating a Digital Enforcement Office, the Bureau says it will:
- Encourage a healthy, respectful and inclusive workplace where employees can thrive.
- Support a culture of innovation and continuous improvement to maximize the impact of its work.
- Build and acquire the right skills to keep pace with the digital economy.
- Establish communities of practice within its organization to share and advance knowledge on data governance, digital evidence and advanced analytics.
