OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government said on Friday it was lifting some sanctions against Iran, including the broad ban on financial services, imports and exports, making Canadian companies more competitive against rivals doing business in Iran.

In a statement, the government said all applications for export permits will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The United States, the European Union and other major nations have already lifted some of their own punitive measures.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said last week that if Airbus is allowed to sell to Iran, then Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier Inc should be allowed to export there as well.

Iran announced plans in January to buy more than 160 European planes, mainly from Airbus, and Dion said reluctance to lift sanctions on the part of Canada's Conservative opposition had helped Airbus and not Bombardier. "Canada continues to have serious concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions and will continue to maintain tight restrictions on exports to Iran of goods, services and technologies considered sensitive from a security perspective," the government said in a statement.

Those would include nuclear goods and technologies, as well as goods or services that could assist in the development of Iran's ballistic missile program, it said.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa, writing by Andrea Hopkins in Toronto; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)