Governance Insights 2026 A Preview of 2026: 10 Legal Updates GCs, Boards and Investors Need to Know
Federal Objectives and Commercial Goals in 2026 An example of the interplay between commercial drivers and federal objectives is the Building Canada Act , one goal of which is to reduce federal decision timelines on national interest projects ( i.e ., projects considered critical for driving Canadian productivity growth, energy security and economic competitiveness) to two years (from five years). Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and fighting climate change remain government objectives. For more on the Building Canada Act , see our bulletin Bill C-5: Canada’s Approach to Accelerating Major Projects . Startups and emerging technology companies stand to benefit from the transformative measures introduced in the federal budget for 2025, from significant investments in AI and quantum computing to forward-looking regulatory frameworks for stablecoins and open banking. Government priorities of protecting Canadian sovereignty and attracting talent should be considered. We discuss this further in our bulletin Federal Budget 2025 Commentary: Implications for the Technology Sector . The new federal industrial strategy, to which businesses in Canada will have to adapt, aims to promote a strong Canadian market, robust Canadian demand and diverse trade partnerships. For example, budget 2025 highlighted core measures in Canada’s telecom and financial services sector to lower the prices Canadians pay by promoting private sector competition. The government continues to view competition as key to productivity, innovation and affordability. We therefore expect Canada’s Competition Bureau (Bureau) to remain vigilant in 2026 in reviewing transactions and business arrangements that may harm Canada’s competitiveness. As anticipated with the extensive changes to the Competition Act made between June 2022 and June 2025 (see here), we expect to see an active competition enforcement landscape throughout 2026. For example, we expect the Bureau to engage with investors regarding a wider range of mergers. As the Bureau confirmed in recent guidance, early consideration of whether a proposed merger may exceed the concentration threshold for the Competition Act’s presumed substantial lessening of competition will be warranted in a broader range of cases. For further details, see our bulletin Canadian Competition Bureau Publishes Draft Updated Merger Enforcement Guidelines .
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