Ottawa clamps down on China’s critical-minerals foray, but not prospecting

By Niall McGee 

Last year, the federal government said that it would not allow any more Chinese acquisitions of Canadian critical minerals companies, except under extraordinary circumstances. Ottawa brought in the rules, after loose oversight in the past, in the face of deteriorating relations between Canada and China, and as fears over China’s domination of the global critical minerals supply chain reached a boiling point.

While there is now a virtual ban on acquisitions of Canadian critical minerals producers by state-owned Chinese companies, at the prospecting stage there are almost no restrictions at all.