The CBA Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section’s Young Lawyers Committee presents:
Buckle Up – The Future of Competition & Investment in Canada
May 23, 2025 | 12:00 PM to 4:30 PM Eastern
In-person: Only 50 seats available
The CBA Competition Law Section’s Young Lawyers Half Day Symposium is dedicated to competition lawyers and Bureau officers in their first 10 years of practice.
The annual CBA Competition Law Section’s Young Lawyers Half Day Symposium is returning and will be in the offices of Blake, Cassels & Graydon in Ottawa on Friday, May 23 from 12:00pm – 4:30pm ET.
At the 2024 CBA Fall Conference, the Commissioner of Competition instructed a sizeable portion of Canada’s competition & foreign investment lawyers to “buckle up”. This was in response to the implementation of the largest series of changes to the Competition Act to take place in decades. However, there remain open questions about what else the government of Canada can (or even should) do to continue improving competition in Canada as part of a broader focus on the economy. The Symposium delves into these important issues.
Join us on Friday, May 23 from 12:00pm – 4:30pm ET for an engaging afternoon of panel discussions that will explore what comes next for Canada.
Early registration is encouraged to reserve your spot, which includes a light lunch. Admission is free for CBA members.
Agenda – Friday, May 23, 2025
| TIME |
EVENT |
|
11:40 am – 12:00 pm
|
Registration
|
|
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
|
Fireside Chat
Keynote Speaker:
Senator Colin Deacon, Senate of Canada
Moderator:
Warren Ferguson, Stikeman Elliott
Senator Colin Deacon will share his insight into the unique problems facing Canada as well as some of his ideas for pushing forward solutions to improve not only competition and foreign investment in Canada, but long-term fixes to fundamental problems affecting Canada’s regulatory framework. Audience engagement will be encouraged.
|
|
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
|
Networking Lunch
|
|
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
|
Trade Tensions and National Security
Tariffs and trade tensions have increased the emphasis on economic security at a national level and have played a role in shaping foreign investment review policy in Canada. Canada’s allies are similarly facing turning tides as national protectionism becomes the norm globally. As geopolitical dynamics shift, countries are tightening their grip on foreign investment screening to protect critical infrastructure, technology, and supply chains from foreign influence. Panelists will discuss legislative and policy changes, such as Canada's amendments to the Investment Canada Act and recent policy statement about economic factors in foreign investment reviews and the UK’s National Security and Investment Act, and how these are influencing deal-making, investor strategies, and cross-border capital flows. The discussion will also address how governments balance national security concerns with the need to remain open to foreign investment, and what these developments mean for deal makers.
Moderator:
Olivia Ells, Blake, Cassels & Graydon
Speakers:
Michael Osborne, Cozen O’Connor
Phil Harwood, fgs Longview
Jason Hewitt, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
|
|
3:00 pm – 3:15 pm
|
Health Break
|
|
3:15 pm – 4:15 pm
|
A Whole of Government Approach to Competition
After the recent changes to the Competition Act, there has been an increased focus on undertaking a “whole government approach” to increasing competition in Canada. This includes, prominently, reducing regulatory barriers at all levels of government. While new to Canada, this is not in fact a novel proposal. Australia undertook such an overhaul in the 1990s with apparent great success. Given Canada’s increasing productivity concerns, it is looking increasingly likely that a similar undertaking may begin in the Great White North. This panel aims to discuss what such a whole-government approach could look like in Canada and how it may impact both business and the practice of competition law moving forward.
Moderator:
Fiona McGinty, Stikeman Elliott
Speakers:
Matthew Chiasson, Competition Bureau
Umang Khandelwal, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
|
|
4:15 pm – 4.30 pm
|
Closing Remarks
|
Thank you to the YLC Symposium Conference Co-Chairs: Warren Ferguson, Olivia Ells, Kevin Hong, & Zach Rudge
