by  Julien Bourgeois of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP

In a decision¹ released on April 12, 2012, the Tax Court of Canada (“Court“) concluded that even if 70% of the voting shares of a corporation were owned by non-residents, de jure control could still be held by Canadian residents and the corporation could maintain its status as a Canadian-controlled private corporation (“CCPC“). This was possible due to the presence of a unanimous shareholder agreement (“USA“) that restricted the ability of non-resident shareholders to elect a majority of the directors.