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ARTICLE · 22 JULY 2020

Top 5 Trends In Foreign Investment Review

McCarthy Tétrault
McCarthy Tétrault
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McCarthy Tétrault

McCarthy Tétrault

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The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a wave of reform amongst foreign investment regulators, as governments attempted to secure their economies for unprecedented fallout.

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector
Oliver J. Borgers
Oliver J. Borgers
Jason Gudofsky
Jason Gudofsky
Jonathan Bitran
Jonathan Bitran
Erin Keogh
Erin Keogh
Julien Beaulieu
Julien Beaulieu
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The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a wave of reform amongst foreign investment regulators, as governments attempted to secure their economies for unprecedented fallout. In Canada, the pandemic and resulting economic crisis – which we have explored in our recent whitepaper, Business as Unusual: New Realities, New Possibilities – have reinforced the government's approach to foreign investment review under the Investment Canada Act ("ICA"), while also giving rise to trends that increase scrutiny. However, unlike other jurisdictions, Canada has not explicitly lowered its thresholds for review. It has maintained that foreign investment is "essential in ensuring that Canadian businesses are able to invest in innovation and to compete in the global economy" and remains committed to encouraging investments that benefit Canada.1 With this in mind, we have outlined five top trends in foreign investment review in Canada thus far in 2020, which we expect to continue for the duration

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