North America

Canada and the United States have signed about 180 investment agreements.

They are both party to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico. Sixty-seven disputes were launched under NAFTA.

NAFTA was recently renegotiated and replaced by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that was signed in November 2018 and is yet to enter in force. The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism between the US and Canada, and between Mexico and Canada has been removed – even though it is included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to which both Mexico and Canada belong. Only limited claims are allowed between the US and Mexico, after exhaustion of local remedies. But the ISDS mechanism has been maintained between the two countries for claims pertaining to Mexico’s oil and gas sector.

The US is also party to the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), with six Central American states. US investors have initiated all 11 known CAFTA disputes.

Canada has an investment treaty with China and is party to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union. CETA includes a revised ISDS mechanism, the investment court system, which has been critiqued for not addressing the core of the problem behind the mechanism.

US investors have extensively used the ISDS mechanism. They have initiated around 180 disputes, over 17% of all known cases, making the US the most frequent home state of investors. The US has never lost an ISDS case.

Canadian investors have initiated about 50 disputes and Canada has been the fourth most frequent target among ‘developed’ states (9th globally), with 29 cases.

Photo: Public Citizen

(April 2020)

Reuters | 25-Feb-2016
Venezuela llegó a un acuerdo para buscar una solución a un prolongado conflicto por arbitraje con la minera canadiense Gold Reserve, que reclama una indemnización de 750 millones de dólares tras el abrupto fin de una concesión que mantuvo en el país sudamericano hasta 2009.
Reuters | 25-Feb-2016
Venezuela and Canadian mining company Gold Reserve signed a memorandum of understanding to settle a protracted arbitration dispute over a gold concession.
Lexology | 24-Feb-2016
FIPA sets out respective rights and reciprocal binding obligations for Canada and Hong Kong, including non-discriminatory treatment, minimum standard of treatment and dispute resolutions rules.
ICTSD | 23-Feb-2016
The case concerns a moratorium imposed in 2011 by the Canadian province of Ontario on offshore wind energy generation projects, citing public concerns and scientific uncertainties about the health, safety, and environmental effects.
CTV | 17-Feb-2016
Canada is working with the European Union to revise controversial investor protection provisions in their landmark free trade deal at the direction of the new Liberal government.
Embassy | 17-Feb-2016
Canada’s government has officially re-opened negotiations with India over a bilateral investment treaty the two sides nearly agreed upon almost a decade ago.
Tele Sur | 16-Feb-2016
The secretive TTIP could make it easier than ever for big business to sue governments, according to new research.
The Globe and Mail | 1-Feb-2016
Despite Canada’s 14 new free-trade deals, Canada posted record trade deficits and shrinking exports throughout 2015 as prices for tangible commodities fell.
Mining | 1-Feb-2016
Eligible Canadian investors with property confiscated by the government of Kazakhstan are now legally entitled to international arbitration under the Canada/USSR BIT.
CBC | 22-Jan-2016
Both sides admit surprise as deal risks losing ratification vote thanks to anti-American sentiment.