Economies prosper when they feature competitive markets. Competition fosters innovation, improves the quality of products and services, and offers choice and lower prices for consumers. When competition is limited, markets stagnate and consumers suffer. As a result, policy makers have established a suite of tools, known as competition policy, to counteract anti-competitive practices and encourage competition in their markets.

This video explains the basics of competition policy and its impacts. There are three key areas of competition policy that antitrust agencies look at when evaluating anti-competitive business behaviour: restrictive practices, monopolies and cartels, and mergers.

Competition policy, as we know it today, was based on the US model from the 1960s and has since received only minor revisions from time to time. Our modern economy, which is dominated by big tech platforms, has upended competition policy and presents complex new challenges for law makers.