Yes, if the operating agreement gives the Canadian partner operational control or the parties have equal control with neither able to override the other, and the enterprise is at least half treaty-owned. A fifty-fifty split with a U.S. partner who holds the deciding vote will not qualify.
Equal ownership works only with real control
The enterprise has treaty nationality if treaty nationals own at least fifty percent, so a Canadian holding exactly half meets that threshold. The harder question is develop and direct. Where an applicant owns fifty percent, the State Department accepts that the investor develops and directs the enterprise if she has operational control through a managerial position or other corporate device, or if the two equal owners each have full management rights and responsibilities, meaning neither can override the other.
Hypothetical example: a Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval electrician buys half of a U.S. electrical-services company from a citizen owner who remains the other half. If the operating agreement names the U.S.
partner as sole managing member with a casting vote, the electrician is a passive half-owner and does not qualify. If it names them co-managers with equal authority, or names the electrician as operations manager with authority over hiring, contracts and spending, the requirement can be met.