Natural Resources committee  A mandatory field under the mandatory filings when they submit for an investment review is to provide us with the ultimate controller or “controller in fact” for the asset. It is required under our processes that we understand the beneficial owner of the firm.

Natural Resources committee  That's correct.

Natural Resources committee  The natural person? DeNeige, do you want to weigh in?

Natural Resources committee  I'll turn to my colleague for that.

Natural Resources committee  I'm happy to start, and then I'll turn to my colleague. It's worth understanding the nature of the transaction. For private sector WTO investors, as you noted, it's $1.14 billion in enterprise value that is the determinant threshold; for state-owned WTO investors, it's $454 million; and then for private sector trade agreement investors outside of that, it's $1.71 billion in enterprise value.

Natural Resources committee  I'm happy to start. It would depend a little on the nature of the transaction. If the transaction met the threshold for a notifiable investment into Canada from a foreign buyer, that would require a notification to the investment review division. Then it would depend a little on the nature of the investment.

Natural Resources committee  There have been a number of investments by Paper Excellence in Canada over the past few years. These include the acquisition of Catalyst in 2019, of Domtar in 2021, and then of Resolute in 2023. While none of the Paper Excellence investments have qualified for a net benefit review, all of its investments in Canada were reviewed under the national security provisions of the ICA.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair and members of the committee, good afternoon. My name is Mark Schaan, and I have recently been named the deputy director of investments, where I'm responsible for assisting the director of investments and advising the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry on reviews conducted under the Investment Canada Act, or the ICA.

Science and Research committee  The innovation agency has taken a number of features from international best practices that it's put into the blueprint that it's released to date. One of these is the agility to move at the speed of business by moving more quickly and advancing projects more aggressively with promising corporations and potential start-ups.

Science and Research committee  NRC IRAP remains a fundamental jewel in the overall innovation ecosystem. It's at the heart of so many of our scaling companies. It's been at the heart of so many business successes. Part of the rationale for leveraging it within the construct of the agency is that it's the front-leaning mechanism to get at lots of those innovative start-ups.

Science and Research committee  I thank the chair for the question. I think Canada's overall innovation performance continues to motivate the government to seek opportunities to significantly increase Canada's success rate. We have put in place a number of programs and initiatives aimed at arresting some what are worrying statistics and overall trend lines in a number of key areas, as well as ennobling bright spots, spots where we want to make sure Canada's advancing.

Science and Research committee  I don't think I could furnish a specific number, given the sheer volume of intellectual property that's generated and the variety of rights associated with intellectual property.

Science and Research committee  We track patent filings. We track the number of trademark filings. It's harder to track copyright as much of that is not registered, and we track trade secrets.

Science and Research committee  You bet.

Science and Research committee  A company's intellectual property strategy rests on a number of things. It is shaped in part by their sector and their location, as well as their market. For many companies, a primary consideration is that they want protections in the places in which they sell. They also want the recognition of their technology from an office of considerable repute that will potentially allow people to know that they have an idea, they have protected an idea, and that they have someone who has taken a credible look at it.