The Competition Tribunal ruled that the movie theatre chain violated the Competition Act by advertising movie tickets at one price online but adding a mandatory booking fee. If an extra charge is inescapable, it has to be part of the advertised price, the tribunal said. Cineplex promised to appeal. (The Logic)

Talking point: The Competition Bureau filed the case in May 2023, the first to be decided under a Competition Act amendment made the year before. Cineplex argued that the added charge is obvious from the time a customer starts an online purchase and it’s avoidable by buying tickets in person instead. No, said the tribunal, Cineplex’s total price has to be evident from the very beginning, not once a transaction starts. Besides paying a penalty equal to all the online booking fees it collected from June 15, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2023, the tribunal ordered the theatre chain to not do anything similar for 10 years or face steeper punishment. Cineplex reported a net profit of just over $167 million in 2023.