The 2018/19 Annual Report on the administration of the Investment Canada Act (Act) recently issued by the Act’s Director of Investments records a considerable increase in filings under the Act by non-Canadians establishing new businesses in Canada.
During the 4 prior years, the Investment Review Division received, on average, 175 new business filings
Overview of the administration of the Investment Canada Act
While there are a number of federal and provincial statutes that are sector-specific and that limit foreign investment in Canada, the Investment Canada Act (“ICA”) is the only statute of general application in Canada that provides for the review and approval of foreign investments.
As previously reported in more detail in our recent blog Canadian National Security Review Ends in Divestiture , as one of a number of closing conditions to its acquisition of Genworth Financial, Inc. (Genworth), China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (Oceanwide) was required to obtain Canadian regulatory approval of its indirect
In August 2019, Genworth Financial, Inc. (Genworth) announced that it had agreed to sell its approximate 57% shareholding in Canadian subsidiary Genworth MI Canada Inc. (Genworth Canada) to Canadian headquartered Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (Brookfield) for approximately C$2.4 billion. Genworth Canada, through one of its subsidiaries, is Canada’s largest
Non-Canadian secured lenders should be aware that they may have a filing obligation under the Investment Canada Act (Act) if they acquire control of a Canadian business in connection with the realization on security granted for a loan or other financial assistance.
Until 2009, such transactions were entirely exempt from the Act. Specifically,
Investment Canada Act threshold exemption for European Union companies directly acquiring Canadian businesses increases to $1.5 billion effective September 21, 2017Effective September 21, 2017, most of the provisions contained in the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Act), including those provisions amending the Investment Canada Act, will come into force.
Canada’s planned increase to the generally applicable threshold for “net benefit” reviews under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) from $800 million to $1 billion became effective June 22, 2017. The new $ 1 billion threshold, which is calculated using the enterprise value of the Canadian business being acquired, should have the effect of exempting most
Effective April 24, 2017, the review threshold under the Investment Canada Act for an investment to directly acquire control of a Canadian business (i) by a WTO investor (that is not a state-owned enterprise) and (ii) by a non-WTO investor (that is not a state-owned enterprise) where the Canadian business that is the subject of
In what appears to be a dramatic shift in Canada’s foreign investment review policy, the federal government has recently approved the acquisition of ITF Technologies Inc. (“ITF”), a Montreal-based technology firm, by O-Net Communications Holdings Limited (“O-Net”), a Chinese developer of optical networking components, which is said to be effectively controlled
Canadian government responses to two requests made by Fasken Martineau under the Access to Information Act (AIA) and the recent publication by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) of its Annual Report Investment Canada Act 2015-16 evidence that Canada’s power to conduct national security reviews under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) in respect of foreign investments in Canada has rarely been invoked during the almost 8 years that such power has existed.
Because of the confidentiality obligations imposed on government officials by the ICA and the sensitive nature of the assessment process which is intended to safeguard Canada’s national security interests, the Government historically has been reluctant to comment publicly on specific investments that it has subjected to national security reviews or on the review process in general. For a considerable period of time, this reluctance extended to even providing statistics on the number of national security reviews that it had actually undertaken.
Continue Reading Investment Canada Act: National Security Review Powers Rarely Invoked
