Canada’s role in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) globally has been, and continues to be, that of both system architect and system participant. The North American Free Trade Agreement’s investment chapter and the investor-state disputes that were ventilated within its framework — particularly those involving Canada as a disputing party — have inspired and shaped other ISDS mechanisms. This article examines how Canada has contributed to a progressive rebalancing of protections for foreign investors and foreign investment through a historical review of Canada’s bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and multilateral trade treaties containing investment protection chapters where Canada is a state party and Canada’s participation as a disputing party in investor-state disputes that have provided definitional clarity with respect to many host state obligations towards foreign investors and their investments under BITs and investment chapters in multilateral treaties.
