Canada's competition watchdog closes two-year Apple probe

People walk by the Apple Store in the Eaton Centre shopping mall in Toronto, March 16, 2012. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Competition Bureau on Friday said it had not found sufficient evidence that Apple Inc had engaged in anti-competitive conduct, closing a two-year investigation into the iPhone maker. The watchdog launched a probe into Apple's business practices in December 2014 to investigate allegations the company's Canadian unit had used anti-competitive clauses to force domestic operators to sell rival devices at higher prices than they otherwise would have and restricting how they could market and sell iPhones. "The Bureau did not find evidence to suggest that the Apple terms resulted in a significant effect on competition," the antitrust watchdog said in a statement. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Paul Simao)