OTTAWA — The federal government is promising significant changes to competition policy to deter firms from taking out rivals, as well as long-awaited moves to implement open banking.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s fall economic statement Tuesday spends most of its new money and much of its messaging on consumers’ pocketbooks, and is light on new innovation funding. Ottawa is counting under that theme moves to address mergers and to give fintech firms more access to financial data. “Competition law may sound esoteric. But it is not,” Freeland said in the text of her speech, claiming the new measures would “stabilize prices and provide more choice.”

The government will shortly propose updates to the Competition Act, primarily by expanding the powers of its regulator. The new authorities will target cases where dominant firms abuse their position in the market, for example by hiking prices unreasonably. The Competition Bureau will also pay attention to so-called “killer acquisitions,” in which big companies buy nascent ones in their own or adjacent business lines in a bid to head off future rivals.

The changes to the law will also allow more firms to pursue others in their sector if they believe they’re acting unfairly, creating a private right of action. Ottawa is promising to overhaul the way the Competition Tribunal awards legal costs in cases it hears. The expensing update comes after the body ordered the bureau to pay $12.9 million to telecom firms Rogers and Shaw for their expense of defending its failed attempt to block their merger.

Tuesday’s document did not specify the scope of the regulator’s new powers, or the kinds of anti-competitive moves they would address. The government will likely introduce the changes via implementation legislation for the fall economic statement in the coming weeks.

But the moves are the latest in Ottawa’s gradual campaign of competition changes, following repeated calls from commissioner Matthew Boswell and policy advocates. In September, the Liberals introduced Bill C-56, which would give the bureau more scope to study sectors, and eliminate a legal defence allowing companies to make anti-competitive mergers if they lower their own costs. Ottawa also boosted the bureau’s funding in the April 2021 federal budget.

While Tuesday’s document doesn’t name particular firms and sectors, its changes respond to regulators’ and scholars’ concerns about the digital economy. Tech giants have bought hundreds of startups, allowing them to consolidate their position in their main businesses or enter new ones.

Some advocates have called for Ottawa to go even further, setting specific rules to ban the very largest digital platforms from favouring their own products over those of competitors, or force them to provide smaller firms access. The European Union has already rolled out such requirements.

But Tuesday’s proposed changes are unlikely to be met with universal approval. The Business Council of Canada accused the government of acting in “bad faith” by introducing Bill C-56, arguing it has rushed the changes. Some competition lawyers have said there’s no need for specific Big Tech rules, adding that stopping larger firms from acquiring smaller ones could hurt founders who would find it harder to raise funding without an exit route.

Ottawa has failed to properly consult businesses before introducing the changes, said Robert Asselin, senior vice-president of policy at the BCC. “To do a real competition policy review you need to address all the sectors, not just pick on the few that are more visible.” Ottawa did signal it was considering updating merger rules and adding measures for digital markets in a November 2022 discussion paper, on which it invited feedback. But Asselin said the government needs to give industry a chance to review and comment on the final proposals before legislating.

After much delay, Freeland is also finally promising to move on implementing an open banking system, which Ottawa is re-branding as “consumer-driven banking.” Customers will be able to give certain fintech firms permission to access their financial data, which large banks will be required to hand over. Services that want to receive that information will need to meet security and privacy standards. Ottawa will put a government unit—either a new agency or an existing regulator—in charge of the system.

But the new regime will take time to implement. Ottawa is promising to introduce it via legislation in next year’s budget, with all the rules in place by the end of 2024. The Liberals originally committed to open banking during the summer 2021 election, pledging to have it in place by the start of this year. Months past that deadline, fintech firms have been pushing the government to move forward quickly.

Tuesday’s statement also promises to open up access to Payments Canada—the organization spearheading a new Real-Time Rail system for faster transaction settlement—to firms other than the big banks. Ottawa is also pledging to tackle so-called “junk fees,” excess charges for services like airplane seat selection and international wireless roaming.