Competition Bureau Launches New Online Bid-Rigging Prevention Tool

Ottawa, April 8, 2008 – A new online anti-bid-rigging presentation was launched today on the Competition Bureau’s Web site, featuring greater interactivity and enhanced multi-media components, including surveillance video excerpts from an actual cartel in progress.

The presentation provides public and private organizations engaged in procurement with information to help them detect, prevent and report suspected incidences of bid-rigging.

Bid-rigging is a serious crime that undermines competitive markets and has serious negative economic consequences for businesses and for the public, which cost tax payers millions of dollars annually. It is a form of conspiracy that occurs when bidders secretly agree not to compete or to submit bids that have been pre-arranged among themselves. Firms and individuals convicted of bid-rigging face fines at the discretion of the court and imprisonment for up to five years.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency. We contribute to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting competitive markets and enabling informed consumer choice.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Marilyne Nahum
Communications Advisor
External Relations and Public Affairs Branch
819-953-9760

For general enquiries, please contact:
Information Centre
Competition Bureau
819-997-4282
Toll free: 1-800-348-5358
TDD (hearing impaired): 1-800-642-3844
compbureau@cb-bc.gc.ca