Guarding The 49th Parallel: How The Investment Canada Act And CFIUS May Reshape Cross-border M&A

Cross-border deal-making between Canada and the United States increasingly sits at the intersection of national security and economic policy. In both countries, foreign investment review has expanded well beyond traditional defence and intelligence concerns to encompass the resilience of supply chains, technology, data and innovation ecosystems. For dealmakers, this evolution means that obtaining regulatory clearance may require more time with less certain outcomes. As such, it is a strategic variable that shapes transaction design, diligence and execution certainty. In Canada, 2025 marked a turning point: in the face of unprecedented economic turbulence, Ottawa explicitly declared that economic security is national security and in a break from the past, has pursued realpolitik trade and investment relationships with countries that it does not regard as "likeminded." In the United States, the regulations that underpin review of foreign investment transactions by the Committee on