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ARTICLE · 04 JANUARY 2018

Liberalizing Foreign Investment Review

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
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The federal Liberal government has taken a number of steps in 2017 to liberalize foreign investment review, making it easier for foreigners to acquire Canadian businesses.

CanadaInternational Law
Shuli Rodal
Shuli Rodal
Michelle Lally
Michelle Lally
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The federal Liberal government has taken a number of steps in 2017 to liberalize foreign investment review, making it easier for foreigners to acquire Canadian businesses.

Higher thresholds for "net benefit" review

The most noteworthy development has been the significant increase to the financial threshold used to determine whether private-sector investments in Canadian businesses will be subject to "net benefit" review under the Investment Canada Act (ICA). The threshold began the year at $600 million, was raised to $1 billion on June 22, and to $1.5 billion on September 21. These increases were a result of the implementation of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) for investors from the European Union (EU), the United States (U.S.) and select other nations that have free trade agreements with Canada that include a most-favoured nation provision. Commencing January 1, 2019, the threshold will be adjusted annually to reflect a

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