Liberal federalists called for a national security review of the popular video app TikTok in September 2023 but did not reveal it publicly.

A spokesperson for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said, "We cannot comment further due to confidentiality provisions under the Canadian Investment Act; this is still an ongoing matter."

He added, "Our government has never hesitated to take action, when necessary, if it turns out that the matter under review harms Canada's national security."

This disclosure comes after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday to ban TikTok unless its Chinese owner sells its stake in the company.

In response to a question about whether the Canadian government would consider similar action to the U.S. bill, Champagne's office said the Liberal Cabinet "issued an order for a national security review of TikTok Canada" on September 6.

It said the review was based on a business expansion, which it said involves the creation of a new Canadian entity. It refused to provide any further details about the expansion it was reviewing.

The office said the Cabinet order is not accessible online, as is routinely the case, because the information is protected and confidential under the Canadian Investment Act.

It noted that TikTok will undergo an "enhanced scrutiny" under the law according to a new policy on foreign investments in the interactive digital media sector issued by the government earlier this month.

This policy statement says that "state-sponsored or influenced adversaries may seek to exploit foreign investments in the interactive digital media sector to spread misinformation or manipulate information in a way that harms Canada's national security."

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 after federal and provincial privacy commissioners launched their own investigations into the platform.

The Canadian review is not related to the proposed U.S. bill, which stems from concerns that the company's current ownership structure poses a threat to national security.

TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese technology company ByteDance Ltd.

U.S. lawmakers maintain that ByteDance is indebted to the Chinese government, which may demand access to TikTok's American user data due to Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to help collect intelligence.

The bill still needs to be passed in the Senate, where lawmakers have indicated it will face extensive review. U.S. President Joe Biden has said that if Congress approves the measure, he will sign it.

In a survey conducted by Toronto Metropolitan University, nearly 30 percent of Canadian participants said they use TikTok.

Scott Benzie, Executive Director of Digital First Canada, said that for many Canadian creators making TikTok content, the U.S. market is of utmost importance, and the organization advocates for digital creators, having previously received funding from TikTok.

He said, "If the ban is effectively applied in the United States, Canadian careers on TikTok will end."

In addition to losing access to the audience, for content creators who earn money through sponsorships, "obviously most of these brands want to connect with American audiences, and if that's not a possibility, that money will go elsewhere."

Nathan Kennedy, a personal finance content creator from Hamilton, Ontario, said he is "very calm" about the situation, noting that threats to ban TikTok have existed for years.

TikTok is his biggest platform, and most of his audience is in the United States. He has been a full-time content creator for two and a half years.

He added, "You kind of have to be balanced about the whole thing... I literally can't do anything, 'it's not even in my country,'" emphasizing that it's hard to believe an actual ban will occur that leads to TikTok leaving the United States, but if the worst-case hypothetical scenario happens, he will move to other platforms.

"People will watch content; that won't change. It's where they watch their content that might change over time."

"I don't want to sound too indifferent here, but one of the things you have to accept is that it's not your platform, and it's not your business. You kind of have to go where the attention is."