In the year since Sheridan Scott took over as Canada's competition watchdog, the federal agency has turned up the heat on major advertisers.

Since last January, the competition bureau has won a tribunal decision against Sears Canada Inc. and an out of court settlement against Forzani Group Ltd., the sportswear retailer that operates Sport Mart and Sport Chek.

Now, it's investigating Bell Mobility, the wireless telephone service provider.

All three cases centre on the issue of whether consumers were misled through advertising. The penalties so far have gone as high as $1.7 million, in the Forzani case, although the company did not admit guilt.

And the bureau is looking to get even tougher by seeking amendments to the federal Competition Act that would make misleading advertising cases easier to prosecute, raise the maximum fine to as much as $15 million, and for the first time provide restitution to consumers. [...]