National Post, Canada

Canada ratifies World Bank’s ICSID Convention

2 November 2013

By Julius Melnitzer

Canada has confirmed its ratification of the World Bank’s ICSID Convention by depositing its “Instrument of Ratification” with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes on Nov. 1, 2013.

“This is terrific news for Canada and Canadian companies,” says Barry Leon of Ottawa’s Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP.

The Convention will become law in Canada on Dec. 1, 2013, almost seven years since the country signed it on Dec. 15, 2006, and more than five years since Parliament passed implementing legislation in March 2008.

This means Canadian investors will have access to an “impartial, less expensive and more effective dispute-resolution mechanism” to resolve investment disputes with host states, according to a press release from the federal government. “Ratifying this investment treaty is an important step toward further ensuring predictability and stability for Canadian investors operating abroad,” said Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, in the statement.

The ICSID was established in 1966 with the signing of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States. So far, 147 other states have ratified the convention, including all G8 countries.