Canadian companies dealing in aerospace and military goods and technology have long struggled with requirements under the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITARs) that prohibit employees of certain nationalities or born in certain proscribed countries from accessing US-controlled defence services and technology in Canada. In order to comply with these restrictions, Canadian companies have had to risk violating provincial and federal anti-discrimination laws, as well as exposure to human rights complaints, when denying employees access to projects involving US-controlled defence items because of their nationality or country of birth.

There may now be some light at the end of the tunnel for companies subject to these conflicts between Canadian and US law. Today, the US State Department released its proposal to amend the ITARs to address the conflicts with human rights policies in Canada and other countries and the administrative burden associated with compliance with these restrictions