Fake review law in Canada, and what it means for your business
By ReputationKiln Editorial · Published
Canada handles fake reviews through the misleading-advertising provisions of its Competition Act, both the civil route and the criminal one. A fake review, whether written by an employee, bought from a third party, or obtained through an undisclosed incentive, can be a materially false or misleading representation if it would sway a buyer. Since 2022 amendments the civil penalties have been strengthened: corporations face up to the greater of ten million dollars for a first occurrence, fifteen million for a repeat, three times the benefit obtained, or three per cent of worldwide gross revenues, individuals up to a million, and the criminal route carries fines and up to fourteen years.
The Competition Bureau enforces it as an independent law-enforcement agency. As elsewhere, the law governs the conduct and does not pre-vet a seller for you.
Who enforces it, and the record
In January 2024 the Bureau issued a formal warning that businesses can be liable for online reviews written by their employees without disclosure, and that it would pursue enforcement. It reached a settlement with an app company in late 2023 for buying positive reviews and making misleading "free" claims, with a seven-figure penalty. One honest note on the limits of regulators here: in early 2026 a federal appeal court blocked the Bureau's bid to obtain a major platform's data in an inquiry into whether it allowed fraudulent reviews, which shows how hard platform-level investigations can be.
What it means for you, and the limit
For an operator, the strengthened penalties and the explicit employee-review warning make both bought reviews and undisclosed staff reviews a real risk, protecting you against rivals and exposing you if your own house is not in order. The limit is that Canada has strong penalties but, as the blocked-data case shows, still faces evidentiary hurdles at the platform level, so the law is a deterrent more than a fast fix for one review aimed at you. The recourse page covers that.
Sources
- Civil penalties for misleading representations reach the greater of C$10 million first occurrence, C$15 million for repeats, three times the benefit, or 3% of worldwide revenue. — Competition Act, ss.52 and 74.01. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-34/ · checked 2026-06-04
- An app company paid a seven-figure penalty for buying positive reviews and making misleading free claims. — Competition Bureau Canada, Amp Me consent agreement (2023). https://www.canada.ca/en/competition-bureau/news/2023/12/amp-me-to-pay-penalty-to-address-competition-bureau-concerns-over-misleading-advertising.html · checked 2026-06-04