Statistics Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Business profits rolling in

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.

One of the biggest stories in Canadian business over the past few years has been operating profits—they just keep growing. Growth slowed a bit in 2006, but firms still pushed operating profits up quarter after quarter, to a record $243.6 billion.

Corporate operating profits—pre-tax profits earned from normal business activities—have been climbing with only a few quarterly slips since 2002. The key factors sustaining the boom are low interest rates, which have fuelled consumer and business spending, and high commodity prices, which have swelled the bottom lines of mining, oil and gas firms.

The oil and gas industry has played a big part in the story. Operating profits have more than doubled from $14.7 billion in 2002 to $32.5 billion in 2006. But oil and gas firms were not the only star performers from 2002 to 2006. Mining companies’ operating profits soared 177%, buoyed by high prices for metals. Construction companies’ operating profits jumped 126%, thanks to the hot housing and commercial construction markets. Transportation and warehousing, and banking profits jumped in this period, 62% and 139%, respectively. And the strong real estate market lifted real estate companies’ operating profits by 24%.

Yet the profit tide has not raised all boats. Manufacturing industries, affected by higher fuel costs, a stronger Canadian dollar and a slowing U.S. economy, saw operating profits grow only 18% from 2002 to 2004 and drop 5% from 2004 to 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies have recorded some of the strongest growth in recent years. From 2002 to 2004, for example, operating profits of foreign-controlled corporations surged almost 39%.