(Ottawa) The bill that eliminates the goods and services tax (GST) on rental subdivisions and modifies the Competition law of the country has passed the Senate and is close to becoming law.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced the bill this fall in response to growing concerns about housing and affordability in the country.
The federal government is removing the GST on rental housing to encourage developers to build more rental housing, a type of housing that experts say is in short supply.
The legislation also aims to boost competition in the country by granting new powers to the Competition Bureau.
It will be empowered to demand information from companies to conduct market research and block collaborations that stifle competition and consumer choice.
It would also eliminate the “efficiency defense” in the Competition lawwhich allowed anticompetitive mergers to be approved in cases where the efficiencies generated outweighed the competitive harm.
The NDP succeeded in obtaining other changes to the Competition lawin particular by increasing the maximum penalty for anti-competitive behavior to 25 million for the first offense and to 35 million for subsequent offenses.
The Competition Bureau will also be able to pursue companies that abuse their dominant market position to engage in anti-competitive behavior.