Can a non-resident buyer even purchase a Canadian business without extra approvals?

Often yes, without any special federal review, but not always, and size is usually what determines the difference. Federal law requires a "net benefit to Canada" review before a non-Canadian may acquire control of a Canadian business, but that review is only triggered once the transaction's value crosses thresholds that are set out annually and adjusted regularly, so a great many small and mid-sized Canadian business purchases by non-resident buyers close without triggering this kind of review at all. A separate, lower threshold applies to acquisitions of certain culturally sensitive businesses, regardless of overall deal size.

Larger transactions can also trigger a separate federal pre-merger notification requirement tied to the size of the transaction and the size of the parties involved, which is a distinct process from the "net benefit" review and looks at competition concerns rather than foreign ownership as such.

Because both sets of thresholds are updated periodically and are specific to the year of the transaction, confirming the current numbers, and whether either regime applies, is something to do early with a lawyer, rather than assuming a purchase is automatically exempt just because the business itself is modest in size.