REFILE-Canada says considering options after U.S. decision on Cuba

Canada is considering its options after a U.S. decision to lift a long-standing ban against U.S. citizens filing lawsuits against foreign companies that use properties seized by Cuba’s Communist government since the 1959 revolution, Canada's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

"Canada is deeply disappointed with today's (U.S.) announcement. We will be reviewing all options in response to this U.S. decision," Chrystia Freeland, minister of foreign affairs, said in a statement. Freeland said Canada would fully defend the interests of Canadians conducting legitimate trade and investment with Cuba, and that she had discussed the issue with her counterparts in the European Union. (Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; editing by Bernadette Baum)