Our government is introducing legislation that would address price discrimination affecting Canadian consumers.
The price discrepancies between identical products being sold in Canada and the United States cannot always be explained by the exchange rate, fuel costs and Canada’s superior safety standards.
These unfair business practices are damaging Canadian consumers and retailers.
Our Conservative government’s Price Transparency Act will help ensure that Canadians are not paying more due to their location.
The act will allow Canadians to shop with confidence, knowing that they are paying a fair price for their goods.
As things stand, it is estimated that Canadians pay 10 to 25 per cent more than Americans for identical products.
We are strengthening the powers of the Commissioner of Competition to allow the commissioner to investigate and expose unfair cross-border price discrimination.
Our government has been active in battling high prices on imported good by taking action on tariffs and we are now ready to tackle geographic price discrimination.
“Our government believes that hardworking Canadians and their families shouldn’t be charged higher prices than Americans simply because of where they live,” said James Moore, Canada’s Industry Minister. “The intentional manipulation of prices on identical goods for sale in Canada and the US places an unfair burden on Canadians and is simply wrong. The Harper government is standing up for Canadian consumers with legislation to help address price discrimination.”
The legislation has the support of the Retail Council of Canada, whose CEO, Diane J. Brisebois stated: “The Retail Council of Canada and its 45,000 merchants have been strong and consistent advocates for addressing the root causes of unjustified consumer price discrepancies between Canada and the U.S… This bill is an important step toward enabling Canadian retailers to compete on a level playing field and offer their consumers the best possible prices.”
