Dentons (JD Supra Canada)

As the corporate income tax filing deadline approaches for corporations with a December 31 year end, businesses that received the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) Loan in 2020, should be aware of the tax implications of the forgivable portion of the loan.

On May 6, 2021, Canada’s Competition Bureau (Bureau) implemented the first revisions to its Competitor Collaboration Guidelines (CCGs) since they were issued over a decade ago. The CCGs describe the Bureau’s approach to enforcing the criminal and civil provisions of the Competition Act (Act) applicable to agreements among competitors and potential competitors.

On May 12, 2021, the Government of Alberta’s Department of Energy issued a new Information Letter on carbon sequestration tenure management whereby carbon sequestration rights will be issued to qualified operators to develop strategically located carbon storage hubs in Alberta.

Alberta has a bill in its legislature that would, among other things, enhance the enforcement provisions of its securities laws. If enacted, it would signal a trend among provinces toward greater focus on this area of securities regulation.

On April 30, 2021, the federal government introduced An Act Respecting Retail Payment Activities (short title, Retail Payment Activities Act) (the “RPAA”). The much-anticipated RPAA comes in response to a consultation paper published by the Department of Finance in 2017, for a “New Retail Payments Oversight Framework” (the “2017 Consultation Paper”).

On April 11, 2020, Bill C-14 - A second Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19, received Royal Assent, which created the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the Subsidy) by adding section 125.7 to the Income Tax Act.

On April 19, 2021, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the Liberal Government’s 2021 budget (Budget 2021). Budget 2021 is titled “A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience” and unveils CA$101.4 billion in new spending, along with certain policy developments.

Employers in British Columbia must now provide employees with paid time off during working time to allow workers to get vaccinated for COVID-19 without loss of pay.

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) recently announced changes to well spacing requirements. These spacing requirements, contained in the Oil and Gas Conservation Rules (OGCR), govern the number of wells permitted to be drilled within a given pool.

On April 20, 2021, Peel Public Health and Toronto Public Health announced that they will be using their powers under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to introduce Section 22 Orders designed to manage COVID-19 outbreaks in the workplace.

The Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (“RIBO”) has issued a Consultation Paper on Broker Responsibilities (“Consultation Paper”). The Consultation Paper aims to discuss the important role of the Principal Broker (“PB”) in ensuring regulatory compliance of a brokerage and its individual licensees. It also seeks comment from stakeholders as to how RIBO might better support PBs, and by doing...

Proposed amendments to Canadian corporate regulations are planned to come into force on July 1, 2021 and are currently open for comment. On March 27, 2021, the proposed amendments were pre-published in the Canada Gazette. The Government has launched public consultations giving the public and key stakeholders the opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations until April 27, 2021.

Around the globe, a third of all professionally managed assets, or roughly USD$30 trillion, are now subject to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, which represents an increase of more than 30% since 2016.  ESG concerns continue to gain importance in Canada.  

In May of 2020, we published a two-part series discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the retail payments industry, and the federal regulatory responses that followed to mitigate those effects. In December of 2020, we published an update, noting that Canadian spending and purchase habits had not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

On March 25, 2021, we published a brief article on the transition from the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). This article contained a background on the LIBOR to SOFR transition, and a summary of the transition language recommended by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC).

Over the past year, Canada has implemented a significant and increasing number of measures relating to modern slavery. While the underlying concerns driving such measures are not necessarily new, the measures are of significant consequence for international business, and specifically international supply chains.

Alberta corporations and not-for-profit companies no longer need Canadian resident directors. This change became effective on March 29. Previously, Alberta business corporations had to ensure that at least 25% of their directors were Canadian residents, while not-for-profit companies needed fully half of their board to meet residency rules.

In Re iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc., the British Columbia Court of Appeal affirmed a lower court’s decision approving a revised plan of arrangement. This capped a series of decisions in respect of the proposed transaction, which together provide valuable insight into the role of third parties and stakeholders in the plan of arrangement process.

Any active business is exposed to financial risks beyond those connected with damage to its own person or property. Many of these risks do not flow from direct contractual relationships and recovery is only possible in negligence.

Late yesterday, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry issued updated Guidelines on the National Security Review of Investments (Guidelines).

On March 16, 2021, Canada and Germany signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together on the clean-energy transition, focusing on innovation and trade.

On March 11, 2021, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published CSA Staff Notice 51-363 (Staff Notice) outlining several disclosure observations based on the first annual filings by reporting issuers (other than investment funds) that engage materially with crypto assets via mining and/or the holding of those assets.

On March 3, 2021, the Government of Canada announced the following proposed updates to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and Lockdown Support for the period of March 14 to June 5, 2021 (qualifying periods 14 to 16)...

On March 4, 2021, the Ministry of Infrastructure presented Bill 257 which proposed amendments to the Planning Act. Schedule 3 of Bill 257, the Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act (the Bill), will provide the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the ability to make Minister Zoning Orders without having to be consistent with the policies in the Provincial Policy Statement -...

On March 1, 2021, the Insurance Council of British Columbia (ICBC) issued a notice advising that the ICBC has ceased issuing licences restricted to the sale or adjusting of one or more specific products (Restricted Licences).

In the single largest investment in the seafood industry by an Indigenous group in Canada, Clearwater Seafoods (CLR), previously a TSX-listed company, was sold on January 25, 2021.

Many Canadians found themselves working from home in 2020, a year defined by uncertainty and punctuated by lockdowns. This tax season, many employees and self-employed workers will be claiming home office expenses for the first time, allowing them to reduce their tax burden for the 2020 tax year.

A battle between two quintessential Canadian brands has finally found its way into court. On February 9, 2021, the Canadian musical group The Tragically Hip filed a Statement of Claim in the Federal Court of Canada against Trillium Beverage Inc. doing business as Mill Street Brewery.

2020 was, to say the least, an unusually active year on the trade front. While 2021 may not be as spectacularly eventful, we nonetheless anticipate several significant developments in international trade, and specifically trade related to Canada, over the coming year. COVID-19 will continue to affect global trade flows and economic growth throughout 2021. The pandemic has highlighted the...

Most foreign investors will enter Canada without a hiccup. However, a small number of transactions may receive closer scrutiny under Canada’s foreign investment review law, the Investment Canada Act (ICA). In 2021, that scrutiny is increasingly likely to be in the form of review under the ICA’s national security review process rather than its “net benefit to Canada” review process.