The ratification of the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA) was announced on Friday by Canada's International Trade Minister Ed Fast.

The agreement between Canada and China will take effect on October 1, 2014 according to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The terms of the agreement were signed in 2012 in Vladivostok, Russia.

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China is Canada's second largest trading partner and the agreemen is aimed at further enhancing the economic ties between the two countries.

FIPA would enable Canadian companies to have a wider access in markets around the world, especially in the Asia Pacific region, said Fast. It would give Canadian companies the confidence they need to grow and expand abroad. He added that it would also help "protect" the interest of Canadian businesses in China.

However, several Canadian lawmakers also criticized the agreement.

Don Davies of the National Democratic Party (NDP) claims that the agreement would allow Chinese companies to have access to some of Canada's natural resources for the next 31 years.  

Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, stated that the agreement will not benefit Canadian companies.

Minister of Employment Jason Kenney also expressed his concerns about having closer relations with China.

The ratification of FIPA is also believed to serve as a measure to a smooth relations between the two countries amidst recent tensions. Prime Minister Harper accused China of targeting the National Research Council on a cyberattack earlier this summer. Less than a week after the accusation, Chinese officials detained a Canadian couple in the Chinese city of Dandong near the North Korean border claiming that they were spies.

This comes ahead of a scheduled visit to Beijing by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the annual APEC summit.

Both sides have also been informally discussing a possible bilateral meeting after the summit.

TagsEd Fast, Canada-China relations, Foreign Investment Protection Agreement, FIPA