CANADA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Kevin West, Andrea Hill, Priya Ratti and Meryam Kellow, SkyLaw
certain politically exposed foreign persons. Sanctions can require, among other things, restrictions on trade, and disclosure and/or divestiture of assets in sanctioned jurisdictions. Industries with Limits on Foreign Ownership Ownership by non-Canadians is restricted in certain sectors, including the airline, banking, telecommunications and insurance industries. In 2022, the federal government imposed a tempo- rary ban (with some exceptions) on foreign own - ership of Canadian non-recreational residential property, which was recently extended until 1 January 2027. In March 2024, the government of Canada issued a policy statement setting out that foreign investments in the interactive digital media sec- tor will be subject to enhanced scrutiny under the national security review framework. In Febru- ary 2025, the government of Canada released a Sensitive Technology List, setting out technolo- gies which will be protected from “unwanted transfer to foreign threat actors to the detriment of its own national security and defence.” In March 2025, the ICA Guidelines were amend - ed to include as a decision-making factor the potential of an investment to undermine Can - ada’s economic security through the enhanced integration of the Canadian business within the
enues from sales in, from or into Canada with a value in excess of CAD400 million. • Size of Transaction: The aggregate value of the Canadian assets or annual gross rev - enues from sales in or from Canada of the target exceed CAD93 million. The Competition Bureau reserves the right to review any transaction. Under the Competition Act, the Competition Bureau has up to three years post-closing for transactions that are not notifiable, and one year for notifiable transac - tions to determine whether it is likely to lessen or prevent competition substantially. In addition, all business activity in Canada is subject to scrutiny for anti-competitive behaviour. Significant amendments to the Canadian Competition Act have been made in recent years. Among other things, these amendments expanded the non-exhaustive list of acts that may be considered an abuse of dominant posi- tion and increased the applicable penalties. The amendments also removed the efficiency defence for anti-competitive collaborations and in merger reviews. In 2024, the Competition Bureau took legal action against Google for engaging in anti-com- petitive practices following an investigation that found that Google abused its dominant position by preventing rivals from being able to compete. Canada continues to amend its Competition Act to target unsupported ESG claims by including harsher penalties, and will soon allow private parties to seek leave for proceedings (whereas currently this right is limited only to the Competi - tion Bureau).
economy of a foreign state. 2.4 Antitrust Regulations Competition Act
Foreign investment is also subject to pre-merger notification under the Competition Act if it meets both of the following thresholds: • Size of Parties: The parties to the transaction, together with their affiliates, have combined assets in Canada or total annual gross rev -
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