In brief The Government of Canada recently passed Bill C-34, the National Security Review of Investment Modernization Act (“Bill C-34“), marking a turning point in the review of foreign investment in Canada. Bill C-34 enhances the Canadian government’s national security review powers under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA“) and introduces mandatory pre-closing filings for certain investments. The amendments are intended to address evolving threats arising from foreign investment and to ensure Canada’s economic security and prosperity. Bill…
In brief Canada has announced two complementary policies that will subject foreign investment in the interactive digital media (“IDM“) sector to enhanced scrutiny under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA“). IDM relates to digital content and/or digital environments where users can participate or collaborate, including certain mobile apps, video games, and virtual reality platforms. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry’s policy is intended to stop hostile state-sponsored or state-influenced actors (“SOEs“) from leveraging Canada’s IDM sector to spread…
In brief The Government of Canada has announced the 2024 financial thresholds for pre-merger notification and clearance under the Competition Act, and for pre-closing, “net benefit” review and approval under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA”). While the Competition Act “size of transaction” financial threshold remains the same, the ICA financial thresholds have increased. Significantly, this is the third year in a row that the Competition Act financial threshold has remained unchanged at CAD 93 million in a bid…
In Brief It has been a dynamic year for competition and foreign investment law in Canada, with significant long-term implications for both domestic and global businesses. In 2023, the Government of Canada focused on modernizing Canada’s Competition Act and Investment Canada Act, proposing and advancing legislation that will overhaul existing legislative frameworks. Looking forward, we expect the Government will continue its modernization agenda and the respective authorities will continue to take strong enforcement positions against…
In brief On 7 December 2022, Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (Minister), announced the Canadian government introduced legislation to amend the Investment Canada Act (ICA), known as the National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act. While the proposed amendments at first appear to be a dramatic overhaul of the existing national security review framework for foreign investment in Canada, they are generally consistent with other recent legislative amendments and policy developments related to Canada’s…
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…
The Government of Canada recently announced the 2021 thresholds for a mandatory, pre-closing economic “net benefit” review and approval under the Investment Canada Act (ICA). The new thresholds will be published in the Canada Gazette in February 2021. Updated thresholds 2021 In most cases these thresholds will decrease for the first time on a year-to-year basis since the introduction of regulatory amendments in 2015 (which established an “enterprise value” calculation for certain private sector investments).…