Competition Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-34)

Definition of “bargain price”

• 74.04 (1) For the purposes of this section, “bargain price” means

  • (a) a price that is represented in an advertisement to be a bargain price by reference to an ordinary price or otherwise; or

  • (b) a price that a person who reads, hears or sees the advertisement would reasonably understand to be a bargain price by reason of the prices at which the product advertised or like products are ordinarily supplied.

• Marginal note:Bait and switch selling

  (2) A person engages in reviewable conduct who advertises at a bargain price a product that the person does not supply in reasonable quantities having regard to the nature of the market in which the person carries on business, the nature and size of the person’s business and the nature of the advertisement.

• Marginal note:Saving

  (3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who establishes that

  • (a) the person took reasonable steps to obtain in adequate time a quantity of the product that would have been reasonable having regard to the nature of the advertisement, but was unable to obtain such a quantity by reason of events beyond the person’s control that could not reasonably have been anticipated;

  • (b) the person obtained a quantity of the product that was reasonable having regard to the nature of the advertisement, but was unable to meet the demand therefor because that demand surpassed the person’s reasonable expectations; or

  • (c) after becoming unable to supply the product in accordance with the advertisement, the person undertook to supply the same product or an equivalent product of equal or better quality at the bargain price and within a reasonable time to all persons who requested the product and who were not supplied with it during the time when the bargain price applied, and the person fulfilled the undertaking.

Marginal note:Sale above advertised price

• 74.05 (1) A person engages in reviewable conduct who advertises a product for sale or rent in a market and, during the period and in the market to which the advertisement relates, supplies the product at a price that is higher than the price advertised.

• Marginal note:Saving

  (2) This section does not apply

  • (a) in respect of an advertisement that appears in a catalogue in which it is prominently stated that the prices contained in it are subject to error if the person establishes that the price advertised is in error;

  • (b) in respect of an advertisement that is immediately followed by another advertisement correcting the price mentioned in the first advertisement;

  • (c) in respect of the supply of a security obtained on the open market during a period when the prospectus relating to that security is still current; or

  • (d) in respect of the supply of a product by or on behalf of a person who is not engaged in the business of dealing in that product.

• Marginal note:Application

  (3) For the purpose of this section, the market to which an advertisement relates is the market that the advertisement could reasonably be expected to reach, unless the advertisement defines the market more narrowly by reference to a geographical area, store, department of a store, sale by catalogue or otherwise.