Since the establishment of the WTO in 1995 Canada has been involved in at least thirty disputes as a complainant. Of these thirty complaints, only seven have resulted in Canada seeking authorization from the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the WTO to suspend tariff concessions or other obligations against another WTO member: EC–Hormones; Australia–Salmon; Brazil–Aircraft; <I>US–CDSOA; US–Softwood Lumber III; US–Softwood Lumber V; and US–Softwood Lumber IV. Of these seven cases, only three cases reached the stage where Canada received the authorization to suspend tariffs or other obligations, and in only two of those cases did it actually impose the retaliation rights it received (EC–Hormones and US–CDSOA).

Like many other WTO members, when a request for authorization to retaliate is being considered, Canada prepares its list for retaliation after a series of consultations has been completed. As a first step, the Government of Canada will conduct its own research into the products imported from the target member. Once Canada has compiled this list according to HS codes, it will select a list of possible goods to target based on its analysis of the value of trade that could fit within the requested level of retaliation. The second step is to publish and notify to the likely industries that Canada may be seeking to raise the bound rates of certain targeted goods.