New data shines a light on the share of Canadian corporate assets that are not domestically controlled
Foreign ownership of Canadian corporate assets fell again in 2024 as domestic enterprises outpaced overseas rivals in asset growth, new government data shows.
The foreign-controlled share of total corporate assets in Canada dropped 0.5 percentage points year over year, continuing a trend that has now stretched 14 years, according to Statistics Canada's annual report under the Corporations Returns Act.
Canadian-controlled enterprises held $16.2 trillion in assets last year, representing 86.1% of the country's total corporate asset base. Foreign-controlled enterprises accounted for the remaining $2.6 trillion, or 13.9%. Together, all enterprises operating in Canada held $18.8 trillion in combined assets, up 5% from 2023.
The gap widened because Canadian-controlled assets grew 5.6% over the year, while foreign-controlled assets expanded just 1.5%. Since 2010, the foreign-controlled share of assets has fallen by 7.3 percentage points in total.
US firms remain the dominant foreign presence, controlling 55.9% of all foreign-held assets in Canada. Japan ranked second at 8.6%, followed by the UK at 6.6%. In total, enterprises from 93 countries held assets in Canada in 2024, though eight countries alone accounted for 86.3% of that foreign-owned total.
By region, companies from the Americas controlled 57.5% of foreign assets, ahead of European enterprises at 23.7% and Asian ones at 17.2%. Americas-based holdings grew 6.9%, accelerating from 3.9% growth the prior year, which pushed their regional share up 2.9 percentage points.
European-controlled assets moved in the opposite direction, falling 13.1% in value and shrinking their share of foreign-controlled assets by 4 percentage points. The drop was driven largely by a 12.8 percentage point reduction in European firms' share of foreign-controlled assets within the financial sector.
Asian-controlled assets rose 9.2%, adding 1.2 percentage points to their share of foreign-controlled holdings. Oceania maintained a steady 1.5% share, while African-controlled enterprises remained the smallest foreign presence at 0.1%.
In the non-financial sector, wholesale trade carried the highest level of foreign control at 48.9% of assets, followed by manufacturing at 43.5%, oil and gas extraction at 32.3%, and mining and quarrying at 31.8%.
Within the financial sector, non-depository credit intermediation registered the highest foreign control rate at 48.3%, up from 44% in 2023.
