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ARTICLE · 01 APRIL 2015

Changes To Investment Canada Act Thresholds, Filing Requirements, And National Security Review Thresholds

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On March 25, 2015, long-awaited amendments to the Investment Canada Regulations and the National Security Review of Investments Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette.

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector
Neil Campbell
Neil Campbell
James Musgrove
James Musgrove
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On March 25, 2015, long-awaited amendments to the Investment Canada Regulations and the National Security Review of Investments Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette. These amendments will raise the key foreign investment review threshold and change the valuation methodology from asset value to "enterprise value" for most transactions. They also expand the information required to facilitate assessment of national security and state-owned enterprise issues and extend the theoretical maximum length of national security reviews under the Investment Canada Act (ICA).

Changes to the Foreign Investment Review Thresholds

Currently, direct acquisitions of Canadian businesses involving foreign investors (acquirors or vendors) from World Trade Organization member nations (WTO Investors) are subject to review by Industry Canada where the asset value (balance sheet book value) of the acquired entity exceeds C$369 million.1 Acquisitions under this threshold size need

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