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The Daily. Friday, March 16, 2001
A ranking of ownership of the largest Canadian corporations by foreign enterprises shows that more than 13,000 corporations residing in Canada are controlled by foreign interests. Of these, United States interests control 6,825. Further analyses of data from the inter-corporate ownership database show that out of those 6,825 American-controlled firms, about 59% (4,021) have their head offices in Ontario, followed by Quebec (14%, 942), Alberta (11%, 724) and British Columbia (9%, 612). The remaining 7% are located in the other provinces and territories.
Province of head office of United States enterprises
| Head office location | Number of enterprises |
|---|---|
| Newfoundland | 24 |
| Prince Edward Island | 9 |
| Nova Scotia | 181 |
| New Brunswick | 82 |
| Quebec | 942 |
| Ontario | 4,021 |
| Manitoba | 145 |
| Saskatchewan | 65 |
| Alberta | 724 |
| British Columbia | 612 |
| Yukon | 6 |
| Northwest Territories | 6 |
| Other (province unidentified) | 8 |
| Total | 6,825 |
The inter-corporate ownership database tracks the ownership of the largest Canadian corporations and provides up-to-date information reflecting recent corporate mergers and takeovers and other substantial changes. Ultimate corporate control is determined through a careful study of holdings by corporations, the effects of options, insider holdings, convertible shares and interlocking directorships. This information is based on non-confidential returns filed by Canadian corporations under the Corporations Returns Act. The database, which now lists more than 85,000 corporations, is a unique database of "who owns what" in Canada. It contains legal corporate name(s), the country of control, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, the province of head office, the enterprise parent name and the percentage of voting rights owned. Users can search, sort, evaluate and download data by company name, company types, SIC, province or country of ownership, and more. It also allows the user to cross-tabulate a search by selecting number of companies in a particular SIC and cross-tabulate by province of residence, country of control, or other variables.
Top 10 foreign ownership ranking by country of control
| Country of control | Number of enterprises owned | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 6,825 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 1,219 |
| 3 | Germany | 942 |
| 4 | France | 591 |
| 5 | Japan | 585 |
| 6 | Hong Kong | 490 |
| 7 | Switzerland | 436 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 318 |
| 9 | Australia | 168 |
| 10 | Liechtenstein | 88 |
Inter-corporate ownership (61-517-XCB) is now available. An annual subscription with quarterly updates is $995; a single copy without updates is $350. The Inter-corporate ownership 2000 directory (61-517-XPB, $350) is also available. See How to order products.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Jeannine D'Angelo (613-951-2604) or Steve Dufour (613-951-2651), Industrial Organization and Finance Division.