Corporations Returns Act
2021
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Introduction
The Corporations Returns Act is administered by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. It entails the collection of financial and ownership information on corporations conducting business in Canada which is used to evaluate the extent of foreign control of the Canadian corporate economy.
The Corporations Returns Act requires that an annual report be submitted to Parliament summarizing the extent to which foreign control is prevalent in Canada. This is the report for reference year 2021.
This report focuses on ownership of assets as a basis for measuring foreign control because assets provide a long-term perspective. They are a stock item, reflecting economic decisions and market conditions that evolve more slowly over time.
These statistics are compiled from enterprise level data. An enterprise can be a single corporation or a family of corporations under common ownership and/or control, for which consolidated financial statements are produced.
The report covers all incorporated enterprises in Canada except federal and provincial government business enterprises (GBEs) and enterprises classified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to Management of Companies and Enterprises (NAICS 55), Religious Organizations (NAICS 8131), Political Organizations (NAICS 81394), Public Administration (NAICS 91), and Funds and other Financial Vehicles (NAICS 526).
The all-industry analysis is based on 21 groups of industries which have been defined using NAICS2017.
Data was compiled by geographic macro-region using the Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest (SCCAI 2019) structure.
Highlights
- The foreign-controlled share of Canadian assets decreased from 15.1% to 14.9% in 2021.
- In 2021, enterprises controlled by eight countries account for 87.3% of all foreign-owned assets in Canada.
- The share of assets of foreign-controlled enterprises in the non-financial sector remained at 23.5% in 2021, unchanged from 2020.
- In the finance and insurance industries, the share of assets of foreign‑controlled enterprises has maintained its steady downward trend and was at a twelve year low of 8.7% in 2021.
- Wholesale trade, manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, and mining and quarrying had the largest shares of foreign control as measured by assets among non-financial industries. Non-depository credit intermediation has historically been and continues to have the highest level of foreign control among all financial industries.
Analysis
All Industries
In 2021, foreign controlled and Canadian-controlled enterprises operating in Canada held $15.9 trillion in assets, a value 7.2% higher than the prior year.
Total assets held by foreign-controlled enterprises increased less than total assets of Canadian-controlled enterprises in 2021, increasing by 6.1% and 7.4% respectively. Consequently, the foreign-controlled asset share decreased, from 15.1% to 14.9% in 2021.
Data table for Chart 1
| Assets | Operating revenues | Operating profits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| percent | |||
| 2012 | 20.1 | 31.2 | 23.8 |
| 2013 | 19.8 | 30.3 | 22.9 |
| 2014 | 19.5 | 29.7 | 22.5 |
| 2015 | 18.3 | 28.8 | 18.7 |
| 2016 | 17.6 | 28.7 | 18.8 |
| 2017 | 17.0 | 28.7 | 19.0 |
| 2018 | 16.4 | 28.3 | 19.8 |
| 2019 | 16.0 | 27.9 | 18.6 |
| 2020 | 15.1 | 27.0 | 18.0 |
| 2021 | 14.9 | 26.8 | 19.2 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01. | |||
Returns collected under the Corporations Returns Act show that enterprises in Canada are controlled by entities from over 90 countries. However, only eight countries account for 87.3% of these foreign-controlled assets. In 2021, the largest share of foreign-controlled assets was owned by American-controlled enterprises. They accounted for 52.3% of all assets under foreign control.
Data table for Chart 2
| Percent | |
|---|---|
| United States of America | 52.3 |
| United Kingdom | 11.0 |
| Japan | 7.0 |
| Germany | 4.1 |
| France | 3.9 |
| China | 3.5 |
| Switzerland | 3.1 |
| Netherlands | 2.4 |
| Rest of the world | 12.7 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01. | |
Over the previous decade, the share of assets owned by foreign-controlled enterprises has steadily declined. This trend has continued in 2021 with the foreign-controlled share of assets decreasing by 0.2 percentage points from 2020.
In 2021, 54.1% of all assets under foreign control belonged to enterprises from the Americas macro-region, followed by Europe at 29.8% and Asia at 14.7%. While the relative ranking in asset share under foreign control remained consistent for these regions, the difference in asset growth from year to year notably changed. From 2020 to 2021, the Americas macro-region saw the most significant asset growth in a decade (10.6%), whereas Europe saw a slight decline in asset growth (-0.4%). Asian-controlled enterprise asset growth marked a notable slow down going from 12.7% in 2020 to 4.4% in 2021.
Data table for Chart 3
| Percent | |
|---|---|
| Americas | 54.1 |
| Europe | 29.8 |
| Asia | 14.7 |
| Africa, Oceania, Antarctica and adjacent islands | 1.5 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01. | |
| Assets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| millions of dollars | percent | |||||
| Total Americas (excluding Canada) | 1,191,341 | 1,164,594 | 1,287,593 | 53.6 | 51.9 | 54.1 |
| United States of America | 1,151,618 | 1,125,525 | 1,246,238 | 51.8 | 50.1 | 52.3 |
| Brazil | F | 28,786 | 31,017 | Note F: too unreliable to be published | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| Mexico | 4,283 | 3,204 | 3,010 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Other Americas | 6,948 | 7,079 | 7,327 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Total Europe | 700,710 | 711,154 | 708,502 | 31.5 | 31.7 | 29.8 |
| United Kingdom | 246,044 | 263,192 | 261,175 | 11.1 | 11.7 | 11.0 |
| Germany | 97,531 | 98,698 | 96,571 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 |
| France | 86,593 | 90,582 | 92,782 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
| Switzerland | 85,098 | 83,636 | 74,446 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.1 |
| Netherlands | 56,779 | 54,065 | 56,010 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Italy | 17,535 | 17,072 | 19,198 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Other Europe | 111,130 | 103,909 | 108,320 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| Total Asia | 296,764 | 334,517 | 349,134 | 13.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 |
| Japan | 134,187 | 171,058 | 167,270 | 6.0 | 7.6 | 7.0 |
| China | 83,612 | 83,693 | 83,489 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| India | 19,630 | 17,377 | 16,142 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| South Korea | 12,785 | 13,547 | 15,147 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Other Asia | 46,549 | 48,843 | 67,086 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| Total Oceania, Antarctica and adjacent islands | 34,810 | 32,154 | 33,834 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Australia | 34,273 | 31,602 | 33,300 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Other Oceania, Antarctica and adjacent islands | 537 | 552 | 534 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Total Africa | 437 | 1,918 | 2,160 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Total foreign control | 2,224,061 | 2,244,338 | 2,381,223 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
|
F too unreliable to be published Source: Table 33-10-0570-01 |
||||||
Non-financial Industries
In 2021, enterprises in non-financial industries held $6.7 trillion in assets, representing 42.0% of total assets in Canada.
Assets held by Canadian-controlled enterprises rose 8.5% in 2021. A similar increase of 8.6% was recorded by foreign-controlled enterprises. As a result, the share of assets of foreign-controlled enterprises remained unchanged from 2020, accounting for 23.5% of non-financial sector assets in 2021.
Data table for Chart 4
| Assets | Operating revenues | Operating profits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| percent | |||
| 2012 | 27.6 | 32.5 | 29.6 |
| 2013 | 27.0 | 31.5 | 29.8 |
| 2014 | 26.7 | 31.0 | 28.3 |
| 2015 | 27.0 | 30.2 | 22.9 |
| 2016 | 26.4 | 30.1 | 23.5 |
| 2017 | 25.3 | 30.2 | 23.7 |
| 2018 | 24.9 | 29.9 | 25.2 |
| 2019 | 23.9 | 29.7 | 23.1 |
| 2020 | 23.5 | 28.4 | 18.9 |
| 2021 | 23.5 | 28.5 | 25.6 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01. | |||
Enterprises controlled in the Americas macro region held 59.7% of foreign assets in 2021, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the year before. Conversely, the share of assets held by enterprises controlled in Europe decreased to 25.5% in 2021 from 27.2% in 2020. The asset share of enterprises controlled in Asia was also down from the previous year, dropping 0.1 percentage points to 12.9%.
Enterprises controlled from the United States (57.3%), the United Kingdom (5.6%) and China (4.4%) held the largest share of foreign-controlled assets in the Canadian non-financial sector. Non-financial industry assets of enterprises controlled by the United States grew 12.3% in 2021, the most out of any country.
Data table for Chart 5
| Percent | |
|---|---|
| United States of America | 57.3 |
| United Kingdom | 5.6 |
| China | 4.4 |
| France | 4.2 |
| Japan | 4.2 |
| Germany | 3.2 |
| Switzerland | 2.7 |
| Netherlands | 2.6 |
| Rest of the world | 15.7 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01. | |
| Assets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| millions of dollars | percent | |||||
| Total Americas (excluding Canada) | 858,869 | 838,559 | 939,360 | 58.3 | 57.9 | 59.7 |
| United States of America | 822,444 | 802,913 | 901,618 | 55.8 | 55.4 | 57.3 |
| Brazil | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Mexico | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Other Americas | 3,836 | 3,657 | 3,714 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Total Europe | 400,556 | 393,906 | 401,663 | 27.2 | 27.2 | 25.5 |
| United Kingdom | 87,292 | 90,808 | 88,013 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 5.6 |
| Germany | 52,082 | 51,651 | 51,024 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| France | 60,082 | 61,018 | 65,770 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Switzerland | 50,507 | 48,844 | 42,891 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 2.7 |
| Netherlands | 40,477 | 38,635 | 41,110 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| Italy | 13,738 | 12,675 | 14,899 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Other Europe | 96,378 | 90,275 | 97,956 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 6.2 |
| Total Asia | 187,736 | 188,986 | 203,266 | 12.7 | 13.0 | 12.9 |
| Japan | 61,597 | 65,855 | 65,704 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.2 |
| China | 68,584 | 65,949 | 69,180 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| India | 10,697 | x | x | 0.7 | x | x |
| South Korea | 8,549 | x | x | 0.6 | x | x |
| Other Asia | 38,309 | 39,244 | 49,590 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| Total Oceania, Antarctica and adjacent islands | 25,453 | 25,395 | 26,499 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
| Australia | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Other Oceania, Antarctica and adjacent islands | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Total Africa | 437 | 1,918 | 2,160 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Total foreign control | 1,473,050 | 1,448,763 | 1,572,949 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01 | ||||||
Finance and Insurance Industries
In 2021, enterprises operating in the financial sector accounted for $9.3 trillion in assets, representing 58.0% of total corporate assets in Canada.
Enterprises in these highly regulated industries are predominantly Canadian-controlled, resulting in foreign-controlled assets representing less than a tenth of the total. Assets owned by Canadian-controlled enterprises were valued at $8.4 trillion, while those owned by foreign-controlled enterprises had a value of $808 billion. For the financial industries, the share of assets under foreign control was 8.7% in 2021, down from 9.1% in 2020.
Data table for Chart 6
| Assets | Operating revenues | Operating profits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| percent | |||
| 2012 | 13.8 | 18.9 | 16.6 |
| 2013 | 13.6 | 18.8 | 14.8 |
| 2014 | 13.4 | 18.7 | 15.4 |
| 2015 | 11.1 | 16.9 | 14.9 |
| 2016 | 10.5 | 16.5 | 14.5 |
| 2017 | 10.3 | 15.8 | 14.2 |
| 2018 | 9.7 | 15.0 | 14.4 |
| 2019 | 9.8 | 14.0 | 14.5 |
| 2020 | 9.1 | 16.9 | 17.3 |
| 2021 | 8.7 | 13.4 | 12.4 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01. | |||
The countries whose enterprises controlled the most foreign financial assets were the United States with 42.6%, the United Kingdom with 21.4% and Japan with 12.6%.
Data table for Chart 7
| Percent | |
|---|---|
| United States of America | 42.6 |
| United Kingdom | 21.4 |
| Japan | 12.6 |
| Germany | 5.6 |
| Switzerland | 3.9 |
| France | 3.3 |
| Netherlands | 1.8 |
| China | 1.8 |
| Rest of the world | 6.9 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01. | |
| Assets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| millions of dollars | percent | |||||
| Total Americas (excluding Canada) | 332,473 | 326,036 | 348,234 | 44.3 | 41.0 | 43.1 |
| United States of America | 329,174 | 322,612 | 344,620 | 43.8 | 40.6 | 42.6 |
| Brazil | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act |
| Mexico | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act |
| Other Americas | 3,112 | 3,422 | 3,613 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Total Europe | 300,153 | 317,249 | 306,838 | 40.0 | 39.9 | 38.0 |
| United Kingdom | 158,752 | 172,385 | 173,162 | 21.1 | 21.7 | 21.4 |
| Germany | 45,449 | 47,047 | 45,547 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.6 |
| France | 26,511 | 29,564 | 27,012 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
| Switzerland | 34,591 | 34,792 | 31,555 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.9 |
| Netherlands | 16,302 | 15,430 | 14,900 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Italy | 3,797 | 4,397 | 4,299 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Other Europe | 14,752 | 13,634 | 10,364 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Total Asia | 109,028 | 145,532 | 145,868 | 14.5 | 18.3 | 18.0 |
| Japan | 72,590 | 105,203 | 101,566 | 9.7 | 13.2 | 12.6 |
| China | 15,028 | 17,745 | 14,309 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
| India | 8,933 | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | 1.2 | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act |
| South Korea | 4,237 | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | 0.6 | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act |
| Other Asia | 8,240 | 9,599 | 17,495 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| Total Oceania, Antarctica and adjacent islands | 9,357 | 6,759 | 7,334 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Australia | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act |
| Other Oceania, Antarctica and adjacent islands | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act | Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act |
| Total Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Total foreign control | 751,011 | 795,575 | 808,274 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
|
x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act Source: Table 33-10-0570-01 |
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Analysis by industry
Wholesale trade, manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, and mining and quarrying were the non-financial industries with the largest share of foreign control as measured by assets. The share of assets under foreign control was 48.2% for wholesale trade, 44.3% for manufacturing, 40.1% for oil and gas and 30.1% for mining in 2021. Among all financial industries, non-depository credit intermediation has historically been and remains the one with the highest level of foreign control.
| Total assets | Assets under foreign control | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| millions of dollars | percent | |||||
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting | 220,849 | 237,284 | 264,083 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 3.8 |
| Oil and gas extraction and support activities | 642,488 | 554,192 | 574,053 | 32.1 | 32.7 | 40.1 |
| Mining and quarrying | 343,051 | 313,082 | 312,346 | 39.4 | 30.2 | 30.1 |
| Utilities | 169,752 | 178,918 | 175,826 | 12.7 | 12.4 | 12.1 |
| Construction | 414,800 | 428,085 | 469,406 | 5.8 | 6.2 | 5.9 |
| Manufacturing | 1,091,334 | 1,104,833 | 1,167,319 | 45.1 | 44.3 | 44.3 |
| Wholesale trade | 508,721 | 559,049 | 614,807 | 50.6 | 50.2 | 48.2 |
| Retail trade | 347,266 | 351,362 | 364,937 | 26.3 | 25.4 | 22.7 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 524,171 | 418,833 | 493,721 | 6.1 | 8.4 | 9.2 |
| Information and cultural industries | 294,281 | 318,366 | 357,091 | 10.6 | 12.5 | 12.2 |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 841,758 | 880,211 | 972,309 | 6.7 | 5.2 | 5.4 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 305,006 | 343,585 | 405,597 | 22.8 | 25.2 | 24.9 |
| Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services | 120,778 | 125,105 | 139,420 | 18.2 | 17.4 | 14.4 |
| Educational, health care and social assistance services | 141,879 | 155,689 | 170,722 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 38,284 | 38,643 | 39,863 | 15.4 | 12.3 | 11.4 |
| Accommodation and food services | 87,712 | 93,619 | 99,043 | 13.0 | 12.4 | 12.8 |
| Repair, maintenance and personal services | 75,754 | 68,341 | 74,705 | 10.6 | 13.4 | 12.2 |
| Total non-financial industries | 6,167,885 | 6,169,196 | 6,695,249 | 23.9 | 23.5 | 23.5 |
| Non-depository credit intermediation | 327,538 | 322,591 | 331,156 | 57.6 | 53.4 | 48.9 |
| Insurance carriers and related activities | 1,105,061 | 1,237,651 | 1,350,885 | 12.4 | 12.0 | 11.3 |
| Other financial industries | 1,400,712 | 1,556,862 | 1,733,510 | 11.6 | 11.9 | 12.4 |
| Depository credit intermediation | 4,857,604 | 5,587,023 | 5,836,687 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 4.8 |
| Total finance and insurance industries | 7,690,915 | 8,704,127 | 9,252,237 | 9.8 | 9.1 | 8.7 |
| Total all industries | 13,858,800 | 14,873,322 | 15,947,487 | 16.0 | 15.1 | 14.9 |
| Source: Table 33-10-0570-01 | ||||||
Data quality, concepts and methodology
Start of text boxThe full set of statistical tables can be viewed in an interactive format on our website (www.statcan.gc.ca).
Please consult Table 33-10-0570-01 “Foreign-controlled enterprises in Canada, by financial characteristic and selected country of control” for more details.
For additional details on quality, concepts and methodology, please see the program information on our website here: Corporations Returns Act
Related Products
Selected data tables from Statistics Canada
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