Canada has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Canada has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows fair dealing, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Art. 29 of the Copyright Modernization Act establishes exceptions to fair dealing with results for news reporting, criticism, or comment. An intermediary is exempt from copyright infringement if the work is used for research, private study, education, parody, or satire.

There are reports that copyright is not adequately enforced online in Canada. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) has criticized Canada for its lacking anti-piracy enforcement, mainly because it offers a home to many pirate sites. The IIPA also characterized Canada as a pro-piracy country in general because of the very high download pirated rates per capita. Moreover, the Canadian “notice and notice” system requires service providers to retain records on the identity of subscribers whose accounts have been used for unauthorized file sharing or other infringing behaviors; however, "receiving such notices lacks any meaningful consequences under the Canadian system." In addition, the rate of unlicensed software installation in the country was reportedly 22% in 2017 (above the 16% rate of North American countries), for an estimated commercial value of unlicensed software of USD 819 million.

Canada has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Canada is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The Investment Canada Act has regulated foreign investment in Canada since 1985. Foreign investors must notify the Canadian Government when acquiring a controlling interest in an existing Canadian business or starting a new business. Generally, investments above those thresholds are assessed based on whether they are of “net benefit” to Canada and must wait for affirmative approval before implementation. The thresholds in question vary depending on whether the investor is a state-owned enterprise or a private firm, as well as if Canada maintains a free trade agreement with the country in question, as it does with Israel, the United States, and the European Union.
Since March 2022, with respect to investments by direct or indirect Russian investors, the Minister of Industry (or the Minister of Canadian Heritage, as regards investments in Canada’s cultural sector) can find the acquisition of control of a Canadian business to be of net benefit to Canada on an exceptional basis only, under the Investment Canada Act. On the other hand, with respect to national security reviews, should it be determined that an investment, regardless of its value, has ties, direct or indirect, to an individual or entity associated with, controlled by or subject to influence by the Russian state, this would support a finding by the Minister that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the investment could be injurious to Canada’s national security as set out in Part IV.1 of the Investment Canada Act.

According to the Telecommunications Act of 1993, Canada maintains a 46.7% limit on foreign ownership of certain existing suppliers of facilities-based telecommunication services, including the cable television industry, a major competitor for Internet access services. In 2012, Canada allowed foreign investment of more than 46.7% in suppliers with less than 10% market share, per Section 16 of the Act.

Canada requires that Canadian citizens comprise at least 80% of the membership of boards of directors of facilities-based telecommunication service suppliers.

Canada is a signatory to several international government procurement agreements that open domestic government procurement to international bidding. According to the Contracting Policy Notice 2021-6 Trade Agreements, the procurement thresholds employ a differentiation based on the procuring agency, namely Entities (departments and agencies) or Crown Corporations and other public corporations. The thresholds for Entities (departments and agencies) range from CAD 100,000 (USD 74,450 approx.) to 238,400 (USD 177,490 approx.). The thresholds for Crown Corporations and other public companies range from 602,200 CAD (USD 448,340 approx.) to 733,600 CAD (USD 546,170 approx.). These thresholds are effective from January 2022 to December 2023.

Although Canada is a signatory to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), its coverage schedules do not include "telecommunications-related services" (CPC 754), and only one sub-sector of "telecommunications services" (CPC 752), which are both important services sectors for digital trade.

Saskatchewan Telecommunications is the only government-owned company in the Canadian telecommunications market (owned by the province of the same name). According to its statutes, foreign direct investment is not allowed in this company.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) is an intergovernmental trade agreement signed by Canadian ministers representing the federal government and all 13 provinces and territories. The Agreement commits provincial, territorial and federal governments to a comprehensive set of rules. The Government Procurement Chapter allows a procuring entity to accord a preference for Canadian value-added, except as otherwise required to comply with international obligations, including the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), and provided that its purpose is not to avoid competition or to discriminate against any other Party's goods, services, or suppliers (Art. 503.4(a)). The preference for Canadian value-added is up to 10%, that may be awarded during the evaluation of tenders for Canadian value-added (Art. 520).

In August 2021, the Government of Canada announced that it will be implementing a mandatory requirement for federal departments and agencies to ensure a minimum of 5% of the total value of its contracts are held by Indigenous businesses. To support this mandatory target, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) announced that it will invest CAD 35.2 million (Approx. USD 26.6 million) over five years to modernize the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB, renamed the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB)), including expanding the scope of the mandatory set-asides and broadening the definition of eligible “Indigenous business”.

In March 2014, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), pursuant to subsection 38(1) of the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on liquid dielectric transformers having a top power handling capacity equal to or exceeding 60,000 kilovolt amperes (60 megavolt amperes), whether assembled or unassembled, complete or incomplete (HS Code: 850490), originating in or exported from the Republic of Korea. While these products are not directly used to manufacture ICT goods, they are relevant for digital trade as they are used in data centers and telecommunications facilities where servers and digital equipment are housed, playing an important role in ensuring a stable and secure power supply for digital equipment. This measure was reviewed and extended in May 2018. The anti-dumping duty rate on imports from South Korea is 101% of the export price. In February 2023, the Canadian authorities announced the initiation of a sunset review of the definitive duty imposed on imports of the subject good from South Korea, however, the final decision is still pending.

In December 2021, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), pursuant to subsection 38(1) of the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on liquid dielectric transformers having a top power handling capacity equal to or greater than 3,000-kilovolt amperes (kVA) (3 megavolt amperes (MVA)), and less than 60,000-kilovolt amperes (kVA) (60 megavolt amperes (MVA)), and having a nominal high voltage rating of greater than 34.5 kilovolts (kV), whether assembled or unassembled, complete or incomplete (HS Code: 850490), originating in or exported from the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei), and the Republic of Korea. While these products are not directly used to manufacture ICT goods, they are relevant for digital trade as they are used in data centers and telecommunications facilities where servers and digital equipment are housed, playing an important role in ensuring a stable and secure power supply for digital equipment. The anti-dumping duty rate on imports from South Korea is 73.1% and the anti-dumping duty rate on imports from Taiwan is 21.3% of the export price.