Lawyer Profile Detail

Donald B. Houston is a partner in our Competition Law Group in Toronto. His practice focuses on competition law. He is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading practitioners in competition law and litigation, with over 25 years’ experience in effectively representing clients on a variety of matters.

Mr. Houston’s competition practice includes defending criminal prosecutions, civil cases before the Competition Tribunal and private actions (including class actions) in the Courts. He has frequently represented the Commissioner of Competition in the Tribunal and before the Courts. He also assists clients by counselling on the competition aspects of business transactions and by making representations to the Bureau in mergers and other matters.

Mr. Houston is recognized in several respected publications for his high level of expertise. These include the World’s Leading Competition and Anti-Trust Lawyers, Chambers Global: Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Best Lawyers in Canada and the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada.

Mr. Houston has acted as counsel on numerous significant competition matters, including: Avaya Inc. acquisition of Nortel's enterprise communications business (2009 - merger); Suncor merger with Petro-Canada (2009 – Counsel for the Commissioner); Irving Paper Limited v. Atofina Chemicals, et al (2008 – competition class action); ICI acquisition by Akzo Nobel (2007 - merger); Commissioner v. Agricore United (2006 – merger litigation); Vitapharm v. Hoffman-La Roche (2005 – competition class action); Cargill Limited Acquisition of the Better Beef Group (2005 – merger); Commissioner v. Canadian Waste Services (2004 – merger litigation); Commissioner v. Air Canada (2003 - abuse of dominance, predation); Boehringer Ingelheim v. Bristol-Myers (1999 - private action, predation); Law Society of Upper Canada v. Canada (1996 - regulated conduct); ICN Pharmaceuticals v. Canada (1996 - jurisdiction of Patented Medicines Prices Review Board); Director v. D&B Companies (1996 – abuse of dominance); Director v. Southam Inc. (1995 – merger litigation); and Director v. Air Canada (1993 – merger litigation, variation order). Mr. Houston has appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada and all levels of Courts in Ontario. His experience litigating cases before the Competition Tribunal is unsurpassed in Canada.

Mr. Houston has written and lectured extensively. His publications include: Recent Developments in Competition Class Actions in Canada, with E. Rix, Canadian Institute, 2009; Canadian Competition Law and Policy – The Year in Review, with R. Hughes and J. Pratt, Euromoney, 2008; The Role of Intent in Abuse of Dominance Cases in Canada, with J. Pratt, Insight, 2006; Jurisdictional Issues in International Cartel Cases: A Canadian Perspective, Irwin Law 2006; Canadian Predation Laws and Their Application to the Airline Industry, with J. Pratt, ABA, 2004; Price Maintenance, Price Discrimination and Predatory Pricing: Overview and Practical Issues, with P. Sirkis, Osgoode Hall, 2004; Expert Reports: Practice & Procedure in Commercial Litigation & Forensic Accounting, with J. Pratt, Butterworths, 2003; Competition Law, Intellectual Property Disputes, Carswell 2002; Anti-Trust Class Actions: A Canadian Growth Business, American Lawyer Media 2002; The Trial of an Action (2nd ed.), 1998, with the late Honourable Justice John Sopinka and Melanie Sopinka; and Private Remedies for Anti-Competitive Conduct, CBA, 1998, with R. Bell and S. Bhattacharjee.

Mr. Houston is Vice-Chair of the Canadian Bar Association National Competition Law Section.