Misleading Advertising

The Blakes Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group works directly with advertisers and their representatives at all stages of the advertising development process to ensure compliance with the misleading advertising and promotional contest provisions of the Competition Act.

We have experience representing clients provincially and nationally in misleading and comparative advertising claims, injunctions, trials and appeals. Our team includes the leading competition litigators in Canada and has amassed the best record of any Canadian firm in contested proceedings before the Competition Tribunal. Many of our lawyers have practices that emphasize on marketing and advertising and regulatory issues. We also regularly advise clients with respect to compliance with government regulations and in dealings with the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Our excellent and long-standing relationship with the Competition Bureau and deep understanding of the Bureau’s policies and operations uniquely position our team to achieve timely and pragmatic solutions for our clients. We also regularly work with clients on issues involving public relations concerns. Our access to experts in the public relations field and extensive experience in dealing with the Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) Trade Dispute Procedure provide us with an additional advantage to better assist our clients.

Recent Experience

Representative matters:

Bell Aliant v. Rogers – Acted for Bell Aliant in defence of a successful injunction relating to misleading advertising claims.
Beatrice Foods Inc. v. Ault Foods Ltd. – Acted for Beatrice in seeking an injunction to stop the defendant from making certain statements in its advertising campaign.
Purolator v. UPS – Acted for UPS in an important case dealing with comparative advertising claims, successfully defending UPS against allegations that claims in respect of its shipping rates were misleading.
Church & Dwight Ltd. v. Sifto Canada Inc. – Acted for Church & Dwight in seeking an injunction to stop advertising by the defendant.
The Commissioner of Competition and the Forzani Group – Acted for the Forzani Group in defending claims of improper ordinary price advertising under the Competition Act and negotiating a consent agreement.

Awards & Recognition

The Globe and Mail and Statista name Blakes the #1 firm for Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investments in Canada’s Best Law Firms 2025.
Members of our Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group are consistently ranked as leading practitioners in the following publications, including in the most recent editions:

Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Competition/Antitrust) – Ranks Blakes in Band 1, its top tier, and recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Julie Soloway, Micah Wood and Kevin MacDonald as leading lawyers.
The Legal 500 Canada (Competition and Antitrust) – Ranks Blakes in its top tier and recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Julie Soloway and Kevin MacDonald as leading lawyers.
Global Competition Review’s GCR 100 – Ranks the Blakes Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group in the “Elite” category, the review’s highest designation.
Lexology Index: Foreign Investment Control – Recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Navin Joneja and Julie Soloway as leading regulatory and transactional lawyers.
Lexology Index: Competition – Recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Kevin MacDonald, Julie Soloway and Micah Wood as leading lawyers and Jonathan Bitran as a Future Leader.
Lexology Index: Thought Leaders – Competition – Recognizes Brian Facey, Navin Joneja and Julie Soloway.
Lexology Index: Canada (Competition) – Recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Kevin MacDonald, Julie Soloway and Micah Wood as leading lawyers across the country.
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Competition Law) – Ranks Blakes in its top tier and recognizes Cassandra Brown, Brian Facey, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja, Julie Soloway and Micah Wood as leading lawyers.
Lexpert's Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada (Competition Law) – Recognizes Brian Facey and Navin Joneja as leading lawyers.
The Best Lawyers in Canada (Competition/Antitrust Law) – Names Brian Facey as Lawyer of the Year (2024) and recognizes Jonathan Bitran, Cassandra Brown, Randall Hofley, Navin Joneja and Julie Soloway.
Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys (Competition/Antitrust) – Recognizes Catherine Beagan-Flood, Jeff Galway, Randall Hofley, Claude Marseille, Dalton McGrath and James Sullivan for their expertise in competition litigation.
Global Competition Review’s Women in Antitrust – Ranks Julie Soloway as one of the world’s leading women lawyers in competition law.