The Canadian Policy on the Protection of Foreign Investment and the Canada-China Bilateral Investment Treaty

Abstract

For a trading nation such as Canada, access to foreign markets has long been a key concern. In 2012, the Canadian government concluded a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with China, so as to better protect Canada’s investments in this big expanding market. China’s communist regime, coupled with the importance of the country, has seemingly caused the Canada-China BIT to differ from the Canadian BIT model, both in terms of substantive provisions and the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. Drawing on a legal-political analytical approach, the article: 1) looks at some key provisions on investment protection in the Canada-China BIT and 2) discusses the ways in which this BIT marks a departure in Canadian foreign investment policy. It also considers disagreements among legal scholars and commentators as to the implications of these differences, particularly with respect to the non-reciprocal character of the BIT to China’s advantage.