Increases to the merger notification thresholds under the Competition Act and the investment review threshold under the Investment Canada Act have been announced.
Competition Act
On January 20, 2014, the Competition Bureau announced that the pre-merger notification threshold relating to transaction-size for 2014 will increase to $82 million from the 2013 threshold of $80 million.
The Competition Bureau must generally be given advance notice of proposed transactions when the assets in Canada or revenues of the target firm generated in or from Canada exceed $82 million, and when the combined Canadian assets or revenues of the parties and their respective affiliates in, from or into Canada exceed $400 million.
Investment Canada Act
On January 5, 2014, Industry Canada announced the expected 2014 threshold for review for World Trade Organization member investors under the Investment Canada Act, namely, $354 million, up from $344 million in 2013. The threshold for review for non-WTO member countries will remain at $5 million for direct investments and $50 million for indirect investments.