LA LOI SUR INVESTISSEMENT CANADA À L’ÉPREUVE DE L’ATTRACTIVITÉ: CONTRIBUTION À LA MODERNISATION DU CADRE JURIDIQUE CANADIEN DE L’INVESTISSEMENT ÉTRANGER

Authors

  • Hervé APrinceetStéphane Rousseau

Abstract

Since the 1950s, Canadian foreign direct investment (FDI) policies have oscillated between scepticism, suspicion and economic nationalism. However, at the turn of the 1980s, Canada attempted a dramatic shift towards a more open policy in line with its decision to liberalize trade. The enactment in 1985 of the Investment Canada Act (ICA), R.S.C. (1985), c. 28 (1st Supp.), which greatly simplified the FDI admission process, was part of this new logic. Yet it appears that, when put to the test, admission of foreign investors to Canada remains dependent on both legal and political uncertainties. This creates perceptions of a lack of transparency around Canada’s legal framework for FDI. Through a review of the ICA, this research paper examines the new admission criteria as well as the FDI selection process, with the goal of determining the level of attractiveness of the ICA. The result is that Canada’s FDI system is one of the most restrictive and would do well to be reformed.

Keywords:

Canada, Admission, Attractiveness, Foreign Investment Review Agency, Australia, Net Benefit, UNCTAD, Foreign Direct Investment, Index, Foreign Investment Review Act, Investment Canada Act, Liberalization, New Zealand, OECD, Protectionism, Security, Suspicion, Crown Corporation

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Published

2016-08-01

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Articles