With the passage through Parliament of Bill C-34 on March 22, 2024, long contemplated changes to Canada’s foreign investment review regime are set to dramatically overhaul Canada’s FDI framework. As we have previously discussed, the most significant change (which will not come into effect for some time) is that acquisitions by non-Canadians of businesses (including certain minority investments) in certain prescribed sectors will eventually be required to obtain pre-closing national security approval. However, the amendments also introduce a series of further changes to the Investment Canada Act that could be proclaimed in force at any time. Businesses should take note of the following important points with respect to the rollout of the amendments.
The most anticipated element of Bill C-34 is the creation of new pre-closing notification obligations for investors in “sensitive…
