April 12, 2026

Welcome to Letters from CAMP, a newsletter on anti-monopoly activity in Canada and abroad, brought to you by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. In this instalment we have:

• A new paper from Statistics Canada finds a clear link between competition and labour productivity
• Meta moves quick to remove ads for attorneys seeking litigants for platform harms cases
• New York City moves on click to cancel rule to make life easier for subscribers

If you enjoy Letters, please considering sharing and supporting CAMP.

Now let’s dive in.

Statistics Canada Research Finds Competition Drives Productivity Growth

As a Canadian think tank, we are required by law to bemoan Canada’s lacklustre productivity growth. Thankfully, this week Statistics Canada provided reminded us that we’re sitting on the solution to Canada’s productivity woes: competition. In a new report from the statistical agency’s research branch, analysts find a strong correlations between market structure and the productivity of companies in those markets. This means that if we want to improve Canadian productivity we need the stronger competition law enforcement recommended by the paper’s authors.

The study suggests that moderate levels of concentration, say a market split between five players, balances competition with allowing companies to bring their costs down by scaling up. While in most markets Canadians would be happy to have five options to choose from, we know from experience that even this kind of moderate concentration has its limits. Look no further than Canada’s famously profitable banking sector split between the Big 5 (sorry, National Bank). Outside the scope of the study, firsthand experience reminds us that we can feel the effects of oligopolies even with the appearance of competitive alternatives.

The study finds that competition is critical not just for traditional industries, but also emerging markets on the frontier of technological development. One of the key mechanisms through which competition drives productivity is through the invention, innovation, and adoption of new technologies. Firms at the frontier that face stiffer competition are more likely to invest in new applications and ways of doing business. Put simply, you run faster when you’re being chased. It’s easy to go cross-eyed wading through the avalanche of studies on Canada’s productivity problem, but we believe this new paper is worth the risk.

Metagaming the System

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, loves to play possum. When it comes to getting the social media giant to do anything about the effects their platforms on mental health, political polarization, or scams and fraud, they’re helpless. They often claim they’re not responsible for the content posted on their platforms or that monitoring and moderating content and ads is a herculean task. But when it comes to threats to their business model, there’s no limit to their reach.

This week it was reported that Meta has been acting quickly to remove ads for attorneys seeking litigants harmed by the effects of Meta’s platforms. This comes on the heels of recent U.S. court losses where the company’s addictive design and inaction were found to have put children in harm’s way. Contrast this quick action with Meta’s approach to scam ads, which their own research suggests account for 10% of advertising on their platforms. Because these ads represent revenue instead of a potential source of accountability, the company has allowed them to proliferate.

Conservative estimates suggest that Canadians lose hundreds of millions of dollars every year to scams. As CAMP argued in a key report earlier this year, holding companies like Meta responsible for scam ads is essential to mitigating their harms. So long as these ads represent a net benefit to a company’s bottom line, inaction will always be the path of least resistance. By introducing stronger privacy protections and changing the incentives that allow companies to profit from scam ads, platforms like Meta can put their powers to work protecting Canadians instead of covering their own ass.

📚 What We’re Reading 📚

• Von Thun and Stienon, Fighting for Democracy Amid the AI Race: Designing Tech Industrial Policy to Promote Democratic Economic Governance (Open Markets Institute)
• Reedy & Tucker, U.S. Justice Department reportedly opens investigation into NFL for potential anticompetitive practices (CBC)
• Thomas, EFF is Leaving X (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Competition is a Click Away

In the latest in a series of pro-consumer policies, this week New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed rule changes to make it easier for New Yorkers to cancel subscriptions. “Click to cancel” provisions, which require subscriptions to be as easy to cancel as they are to sign up for, are extremely popular with consumers. They make subscription terms simpler, forbid the customer service labyrinths that too many of us are familiar with, and force companies to compete on quality instead of annoyance level.

Companies have employed all sorts of ingenious strategies to keep unhappy consumers from unsubscribing, a set of tactics referred to as the roach motel. Companies make users cancel by phone, setting them up for hours of wait times and possible disconnection. They make subscribers pay off the rest of their term or enact ridiculous cancellation fees. They also refuse customers access to their own data to make switching providers unappealing. All in service of keeping dissatisfied customers paying.

Sound familiar? These tactics are all too common in Canada. While the CRTC has recently blocked telcosfrom charging fees when users cancel or modify their subscriptions, Canadian provinces need to get in the game. Streaming services, gym memberships, newspaper subscriptions, the list goes on. Each of these should be as easy to leave as they are to join. By enacting click to cancel legislation, provincial governments can ensure companies compete on price and quality instead of the intensity of headache consumers are willing to endure.

If you have any monopoly tips or stories you'd like to share, drop us a line at hello@antimonopoly.ca

Follow CAMP on Twitter LinkedIn Instagram or Facebook​