Proclamation giving notice that the annexed November 30, 1995 supplementary agreement, entitled Protocol to the Tax Convention Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the French Republic signed on May 2, 1975 and amended by the Protocol of January 16, 1987, came into force on September 1, 1998 (SI/99-19)

• “3 The existing taxes to which the Convention shall apply are in particular:

  • (a) in the case of Canada, the taxes imposed by the Government of Canada under the Income Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as Canadian tax);

  • (b) in the case of France, the income tax, the corporation tax, the tax on wages and salaries (regulated by the provisions of the Convention applicable, as the case may be, to business profits or to income from independent personal services), the solidarity tax on net wealth, and any withholding tax, prepayment or advance payment with respect to the aforesaid taxes, (hereinafter referred to as French tax).

• 4 Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the existing taxes to which the Convention shall apply also include, in the case of France, the inheritance tax, but only for the application of Articles 4, 23, 25 and 26.

• 5 The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of the Convention in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of important changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws.”

“ARTICLE 4Resident

• 1 For the purposes of this Convention, the term resident of a Contracting State means:

  • (a) any person who, under the law of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature but the term does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State;

  • (b) that State, its provinces in the case of Canada, the local authorities of that State or of its provinces, and their agencies or instrumentalities;

  • (c) in the case of France, partnerships or other bodies of persons which have their place of effective management in France, and whose partners, shareholders or other members are personally liable to tax therein in respect of their share of the profits under domestic French law; but, with respect to the benefits granted by Canada under the Convention, such partnerships and bodies of persons shall not be treated as residents of France except insofar as their partners, shareholders or other members are liable to French tax on income in respect of which these benefits are granted;

  • (d) any other person constituted and established in that State and exempted from tax in that State, where the competent authorities agree that for the purposes of the Convention such person shall be deemed to be a resident of that State.

• 2 Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status shall be determined as follows:

  • (a) he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);

  • (b) if the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has an habitual abode;

  • (c) if he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State of which he is a national;

  • (d) if he is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.

• 3 Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to settle the question by mutual agreement. In the absence of such agreement, such person shall not be considered to be a resident of either Contracting State for the purposes of enjoying benefits under the Convention.”

“ARTICLE 5Permanent Establishment

• 1 For the purposes of this Convention, the term permanent establishment means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.

• 2 The term permanent establishment includes especially:

  • (a) a place of management;

  • (b) a branch;

  • (c) an office;

  • (d) a factory;

  • (e) a workshop; and

  • (f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or other place of extraction of natural resources, it being understood that a place of exploration of natural resources is also considered a permanent establishment if it constitutes a fixed place of business within the meaning of paragraph 1.

• 3 A building site or construction or installation project constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than twelve months.

• 4 Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term permanent establishment shall be deemed not to include:

  • (a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;

  • (b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery;

  • (c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;

  • (d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or for collecting information, for the enterprise;

  • (e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character;

  • (f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in subparagraphs (a) to (e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.

• 5 Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person — other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies — is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of the enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.

• 6 An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business.

• 7 The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other.”

“ARTICLE 9Associated Enterprises

Where:

• (a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the other Contracting State; or

• (b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterprise of the other Contracting State;

and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations which differ from those which would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits which would, but for those conditions, have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly.”

“ARTICLE 10Dividends

• 1 Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

• 2 However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the dividends the tax so charged shall not exceed:

  • (a) 5 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company liable to corporation tax which:

    • (i) controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the company paying the dividends where that company is a resident of Canada;

    • (ii) holds directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends where that company is a resident of France;

  • (b) notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (a), 10 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if they are paid by a non-resident owned investment corporation that is a resident of Canada to a company that is a resident of France and that controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the company paying the dividends;

  • (c) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases.

  The provisions of this paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

• 3

  • (a) A resident of Canada who is the beneficial owner of dividends received from a company which is a resident of France, which dividends, if received by a resident of France would entitle such resident to a tax credit (“avoir fiscal”), shall be entitled to a payment from the French Treasury of an amount equal to such tax credit (“avoir fiscal”), subject to the deduction from such payment of the tax provided for in subparagraph (c) of paragraph 2.

  • (b) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall apply only to a resident of Canada who is:

    • (i) an individual; or

    • (ii) a company other than a company that holds directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the capital of the company resident in France paying the dividends.

  • (c) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends is not liable to Canadian tax on the dividends and the payment of the French Treasury. However, the competent authorities of the Contracting States may agree to also apply the provisions of subparagraph (a) to any organisation referred to in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 7 of Article 29, but only with respect to that part of the dividends which corresponds to the rights owned in such organisations by residents of Canada and provided that, if so requested by the competent authorities, that part of the dividends is taxed in the hands of such residents.

  • (d) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends does not, when asked by the French tax administration, justify that he is the owner of the interest giving rise to the payment of the dividends and that the holding of that interest does not have as its main objective, or as one of its main objectives, to allow another person, whether a resident of a Contracting State or not, to take advantage of the provisions of subparagraph (a).

  • (e) The gross amount of the payment from the French Treasury referred to in subparagraph (a) shall be treated as a dividend for the application of this Convention.

• 4 A resident of Canada who receives dividends paid by a company which is a resident of France shall, unless it is eligible to receive a payment from the French Treasury referred to in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3, be entitled to the refund of the prepayment to the extent that the prepayment has effectively been paid by the company with respect to the dividends. The gross amount of the prepayment refunded shall be deemed to be a dividend for the purposes of the Convention. It may be taxed in France in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2.

• 5 The term dividends as used in this Article means income from shares, “jouissance” shares or “jouissance” rights, mining shares, founders’ shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income which is subjected to the taxation treatment of distributions or to same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the Contracting State of which the company making the distribution is a resident.

• 6 The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall apply.

• 7 Where a company which is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company, except insofar as such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State or insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that other State, nor subject the company’s undistributed profits to a tax on undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State.

• 8 Nothing in the Convention shall prevent a Contracting State from imposing on the earnings attributable to a permanent establishment, situated in that State, of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State a tax in addition to the tax allowable under the other provisions of the Convention, provided that any additional tax so imposed shall not exceed 5 per cent of the amount of such earnings. This additional tax shall also apply to profits or gains derived from the alienation of immovable property situated in a Contracting State by a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, whether or not that company has a permanent establishment in the first-mentioned State. For the purpose of this provision, the term earnings means the profits or gains after deducting therefrom the taxes, other than the additional tax referred to herein, imposed on such profits or gains by the first-mentioned State.”

• “(c) is paid with respect to indebtedness resulting from the sale or furnishing on credit by a resident of the other Contracting State of any equipment, merchandise or services, except where the sale or furnishing is made between associated enterprises within the meaning of subparagraphs (a) or (b) of Article 9 or where the payer and the recipient of the interest are associated enterprises within the meaning of the same subparagraphs.”

“ARTICLE 13Capital Gains

• 1

  • (a) Gains from the alienation of immovable property may be taxed in the Contracting State in which such property is situated.

  • (b) Gains from the alienation of shares or other rights in a company the assets of which consist principally of immovable property situated in a Contracting State may be taxed in that State.

  • (c) Gains from the alienation of an interest in a partnership or a trust the assets of which consist principally of immovable property situated in a Contracting State may be taxed in that State.

  • (d) For the purposes of subparagraphs (b) and (c), and for the purposes of paragraph 2 of Article 22, the term “immovable property situated in a Contracting State” includes immovable property situated in that State which is referred to in Article 6, and the shares or other rights the value of which is derived, directly or indirectly, principally from immovable property situated in that State, and an interest in a partnership or trust, the value of which is derived, directly or indirectly, principally from immovable property situated in that State; but it does not include property, other than rental property, through which the business of the company, partnership or trust is carried on.”

• 2 Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or of movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterprise) or of such fixed base may be taxed in that other State.

• 3 Gains derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated by that enterprise in international traffic or movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in that State.

• 4 Gains from the alienation of any property other than that referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident.

• 5 The provisions of paragraph 4 shall not prevent a Contracting State from taxing, according to its law, gains derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State from the alienation of any property, if the alienator:

  • (a) is a national of the first-mentioned State or has been a resident of that State for ten years or more prior to the date of the alienation of the property, and

  • (b) has been a resident of that first-mentioned State at any time within the five year period immediately preceding the date of the alienation.”

• “3 Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration derived in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic by an enterprise of a Contracting State may be taxed in that State.”

“ARTICLE 17Artistes and Sportsmen

• 1 Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 14 and 15, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artiste, or a musician, or as a sportsman, from his personal activities as such exercised in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.

• 2 Where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or a sportsman in his capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or sportsman himself but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7, 14 and 15, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or sportsman are exercised.

• 3 The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to income in respect of activities exercised by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer or a sportsman in the other Contracting State if the visit to that other State is principally supported, directly or indirectly, by public funds of the first-mentioned State, its provinces in the case of Canada, its local authorities, or their agencies or instrumentalities thereof. In such case, the income shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State.”

• “2 War pensions and allowances (including pensions and allowances paid to war veterans or paid as a consequence of damages or injuries suffered as a consequence of a war) arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 23, be exempt from tax in that other State to the extent that they would be exempt from tax if received by a resident of the first-mentioned State.”

“ARTICLE 19Government Service

• 1 Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a province in the case of Canada or a local authority or an instrumentality thereof to an individual who is a national of that State in respect of services rendered to that State, province, authority or agency or instrumentality, shall be taxable only in that State.

• 2 The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to salaries, wages and other similar remuneration paid in respect of services rendered in connection with a trade or business carried on by a Contracting State, a province in the case of Canada, a local authority, or by one of their agencies or instrumentalities.”

“ARTICLE 22Capital

• 1 Capital represented by immovable property owned by a resident of a Contracting State and situated in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.

• 2 Capital represented by shares or other rights in a company the assets of which consist principally of immovable property situated in a Contracting State and referred to in subparagraph (d) of paragraph 1 of Article 13, may be taxed in that State.

• 3 Capital represented by movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting state has in the other Contracting State or by movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, may be taxed in that other State.

• 4 Capital represented by shares or other rights (other than shares or other rights referred to in paragraph 2) forming part of a substantial interest in a company which is a resident of a Contracting State may be taxed in that State. A substantial interest is considered to exist when an individual holds, alone or with related persons, directly or indirectly, shares or other rights the total of which gives right to at least 25 per cent of the profits of the company.

• 5 Capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State represented by ships and aircraft operated by that enterprise in international traffic or by movable property pertaining to their operation, or by containers referred to in paragraph 4 of Article 8, shall be taxable only in that State.

• 6 All other elements of capital of a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.

• 7 Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, for the purposes of taxation with respect to the solidarity tax on net wealth referred to in subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 of Article 2 of an individual who is a resident of France and who is a national of Canada but not a national of France, the assets situated outside of France that such person owns on the first of January of each of the five years following the calendar year in which he becomes a resident of France shall be excluded from the base of assessment of the taxes relating to each of those five years. If such an individual loses the status of resident of France for a period of at least three years and then again becomes a resident of France, the assets situated outside of France that such a person owns on the first of January of each of the five years following the calendar year in which again he becomes a resident of France shall be excluded from the base of assessment of the taxes relating to each of those five years.”

• “1 Individuals who are nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subject in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith, which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which individuals who are nationals of that other State in the same circumstances are or may be subjected, notably with respect to the residence. This provision shall apply to individuals whether or not they are residents of one of the Contracting States.”

“ARTICLE 26Exchange of Information

• 1 The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Convention or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes covered by the Convention insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted by Article 1. Any information received by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) involved in the assessment or collection of, the enforcement in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to, the taxes covered by the Convention. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.

• 2 In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 1 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:

  • (a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;

  • (b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State;

  • (c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).”