Standing Committee on Industry and Technology

Comité permanent de l'industrie et de la technologie

For immediate release

Ottawa, March 4, 2022 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU) presented its First Report in the House of Commons entitled Proposed Acquisition of Shaw Communications by Rogers Communications: Better together?

The announcement of the proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications by Rogers Communications in March 2021 has generated strong reactions from many stakeholders. During the study on this matter, most witnesses opposed the transaction in its current form. They were concerned about the impact on diversity and voices in the broadcasting sector and on the affordability of telecommunications services. They stressed the need for a review of the Competition Act. The report makes four recommendations, namely, that the Government of Canada immediately initiate a review of this act and ensure that regulatory bodies have adequate resources to carry out their work and monitor their decisions and that the interests of accessibility and affordability for all Canadians take precedence over all other considerations in assessing the proposed merger.

The committee held four meetings on this topic between March and April 2021, during which it heard from 28 witnesses and received four written submissions. The committee was unable to report on this study before the election in the summer of 2021, but considering the importance of this issue, it relaunched the study as soon as possible in the 44th Parliament, leading to the presentation of this report.

The report is available on the committee’s website.