Foreign Ownership Restrictions Relaxed For Telecom Carriers In Canada

Consistent with prior policy announcements, the federal government in Canada has passed legislation relaxing restrictions on foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector in an effort to attract foreign investment and spur competition.¹

The recent amendments to the Telecommunications Act² provide an exemption to the normal rules for carriers and their affiliates having total annual telecommunications revenues that represent less than 10% of total Canadian telecom industry revenues. Based upon the most recent CRTC reports, carriers could have up to C$4.17 billion in annual revenue and still be exempt from the foreign ownership restrictions. As a result, the exemption will apply to all current Canadian carriers other than Bell Canada, TELUS Corporation and Rogers Communications Inc.