Data Room for Competition Act Merger Review (2026)

How it works in Canada

For 2026, pre-merger notification applies when the parties and their affiliates have combined Canadian assets or gross revenues from sales in, from or into Canada over C$400 million, and the transaction itself exceeds C$93 million in Canadian assets or revenues. The transaction-size threshold has stayed at C$93 million for several years. Both parties file, and the initial waiting period is 30 days.

The Competition Bureau can issue a supplementary information request (SIR) within that period. A SIR asks for documents and data on markets, customers and competition, and the waiting period then runs until 30 days after both parties comply. Compliance can take months and involve millions of records, which is where a production room matters. Parties often negotiate the scope of a SIR with Bureau staff, so a clear record of custodians and date ranges helps.

Before closing, competitors cannot combine their businesses or share competitively sensitive data freely, since that risks gun-jumping and conspiracy concerns. Clean teams, usually outside counsel and economists, review pricing, customer and margin data in a restricted area. Integration planning can continue, but only within those limits. Amendments to the Act in 2022 to 2024 also widened the Bureau’s merger powers, so Bay Street counsel plan for closer scrutiny.

Best data rooms for competition act review

Our five criteria, re-weighted for this use case, plus a small bonus for providers built around it.

1 Ellty ~C$211/mo
9.2 Visit Ellty
2 iDeals Quote
8.9
3 Datasite Quote
8.9
4 Intralinks Quote
8.8
5 Firmex Quote
8.8
6 Ansarada Quote
8.8
7 Drooms Quote
8.6
8 SmartRoom Quote
8.6
9 DealRoom Quote
8.1
10 CapLinked ~C$423/mo
8.0

Privacy 28%Workflow 19%Control 26%Usability 15%Cost 11%

What goes in the data room

Competition Act review: index

01
01 Filing
Notification forms, filing fee confirmation and any advance ruling certificate request.
02
02 Thresholds
Party-size and transaction-size calculations with financial support.
03
03 Transaction documents
Agreement, board presentations and documents describing the deal rationale.
04
04 Market and competition analysis
Economists’ reports, market share estimates and customer lists.
05
05 Clean team (outside advisers only)
Pricing, margins, customer contracts and pipeline data shared under the clean team protocol.
06
06 Bureau correspondence
Letters, calls notes and information requests from the Competition Bureau.
07
07 SIR productions
Certified productions by specification, with custodian and date ranges.
08
08 Remedy discussions
Divestiture proposals and consent agreement drafts, restricted to counsel.
09
09 Investment Canada coordination
Shared facts with the ICA filing, if a foreign buyer is involved.

Canadian rules that apply

Pre-merger notification, Part IX

Notification is required when the party-size threshold (C$400 million) and the transaction-size threshold (C$93 million in 2026) are both exceeded. Parties cannot close until the waiting period expires or is waived, or an advance ruling certificate is issued.

Supplementary information requests

Within the initial 30 days, the Bureau may issue SIRs. The waiting period then ends 30 days after both parties have complied. SIR compliance requires certified productions, so an exact, logged record of what was produced is important.

Gun-jumping and information exchange

Sharing competitively sensitive information between rivals before closing can raise issues under the merger rules and the conspiracy provisions. The Bureau’s guidance supports clean team arrangements with outside advisers and aggregated data.

Features to insist on

Data room	Activity log	Bulk upload	In-room redaction	Dynamic watermarks	2-step login
Ellty	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
iDeals	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Datasite	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intralinks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Firmex	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ansarada	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Drooms	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SmartRoom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Activity log. Per-user history of opens, prints and downloads with timestamps, which you can export for the closing binder.
Bulk upload. Upload an entire set of nested folders at once, with the index numbers kept as they were.
In-room redaction. Hide social insurance numbers, pay figures or client names on the platform itself, without keeping two versions of the file.
Dynamic watermarks. The reader's identity and the date are printed across every page, which discourages screenshots and identifies the source of a leak.
2-step login. Logins need a one-time code or authenticator approval on top of the password.

How to set it up

1
Check both thresholds
Calculate the combined size of the parties and the size of the transaction in Canada using the 2026 figures. Keep the calculations and supporting statements in the room, since the Bureau may ask how they were reached.
2
Set up the clean team
Sign a clean team protocol naming the outside counsel, economists and any approved internal people. Give only them access to the clean team folder, with watermarks and downloads switched off.
3
Prepare the filing
Assemble notification material, transaction documents and board papers that discuss competition. Bureau staff read internal documents closely, so counsel should review them before filing. Make sure the same figures appear across every form.
4
Plan for a SIR early
If the deal has overlaps, expect a SIR. Agree custodians, search terms and production format with counsel and the e-discovery team before filing so the clock is not lost. Preserve data now.
5
Produce and certify
Upload SIR productions by specification, keep a production log, and confirm completeness before certifying compliance. The 30-day period starts only once both parties have complied. Track the other party’s progress as well.
6
Close out and retain
After clearance or a consent agreement, export the room with its logs. Keep it for any follow-up questions or remedy monitoring, then delete clean team data under the protocol. Confirm deletion in writing with each adviser.

Common mistakes

Letting business people on the buy side see the target’s pricing data outside the clean team.
Using old transaction-size thresholds and missing a filing obligation.
Starting SIR collection only after the request arrives.
Filing board decks that describe the deal as removing a competitor without counsel review.

FAQ

When is Competition Act pre-merger notification required?

When the parties and their affiliates have combined Canadian assets or revenues over C$400 million and the transaction exceeds C$93 million in Canadian assets or revenues in 2026. Some transactions have their own tests, such as share acquisitions with voting interest thresholds. Counsel confirms the details.

What is a supplementary information request?

A SIR is the Competition Bureau’s formal request for more documents and data, issued during the initial 30-day period. It extends the waiting period until 30 days after both parties comply. Large SIRs can require months of collection and review.

What is a clean team and why does it need a separate folder?

A clean team is a small group, usually outside counsel and economists, allowed to see a competitor’s sensitive data before closing. Keeping that data in a restricted folder with named access, watermarks and no downloads helps the parties show they did not exchange information improperly.

Data room for Competition Act merger review