In brief 2024 brought many changes and developments to foreign investment law in Canada. The Canadian government introduced various reforms to foreign investment policy through amendments to the Investment Canada Act (the “Act”), reframing risk in certain sensitive industries which Canada views as important for safeguarding its national security and economic interests. Geopolitical and trade tensions have also increased Canada’s use of national security reviews over foreign investments from Chinese investors, particularly in Canadian critical mineral assets…
In brief The Government of Canada has published the 2025 financial thresholds for pre-closing, “net benefit” review and approval of foreign investment under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA”). The ICA financial thresholds are reviewed annually and have once again increased. Notably, the financial threshold for trade agreement investors that are not state-owned enterprises (“SOE”) has exceeded CAD 2 billion for the first time. Failure to notify and obtain approval for an investment may result in…
On 20 May 2024, the UK Government issued updated guidance on the use of powers under the National Security and Investment Act (“NSI Act”). As noted in our blog post dated 26 April 2024, this updated guidance forms part of the UK Government’s response to the call for evidence that it launched in December 2023 asking for stakeholder feedback on a number of areas of potential change to the NSI Act. The updates to the…
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…