In January 2022, the Canadian government allowed a Chinese state-owned investor, Zijin Mining Group, to acquire Canadian lithium miner Neo Lithium Corp (“Neo Lithium”) for approximately $960 million. As the decision comes in the wake of two significant recent developments, the finalization in January 2020 of a Canada-US plan to secure supply chains for critical minerals; and the issuance in March 2021 of updated National Security Review Guidelines that list critical minerals, including lithium, as…

On 24 March 2021, the Canadian Government announced updates to its guidelines on national security reviews (Guidelines) under the Investment Canada Act (Act). The updated Guidelines identify additional areas that, in the Government’s view, could present national security concerns in foreign investment, including sensitive personal data, certain sensitive technologies and critical minerals, in addition to expressly re-emphasising the Government’s views on investments by state-owned or state-influenced investors. More specifically: With respect to the identity of…