The foreign ownership of operating revenue in Canada rose by 1.3
percentage points to 29.8 percent in 1995. This is the second
highest one-year increase since the Corporation and Labor Unions
Returns Act started being issued. Statistics Canada says the
increase was caused by "a strong revenue growth in the
foreign-controlled sector, weakness in the domestically
controlled sector and foreign takeovers."
The report shows that revenue growth for foreign controlled
firms was three times that of Canadian-controlled firms. The
growth in small and medium Canadian firms' revenues remained
weak, being attributed to the fact that the vast majority of
Canadian companies operate predominantly in the Canadian market.
The much touted economic recovery, with its feature of
joblessness, does not include these companies which do not
operate in the global economy.
The statistics show that export-related industries accounted
for the strong increase in foreign revenues. In 1995, the wood
and paper industry spearheaded the rise in foreign control while
in the early 1990s, the upward movement of foreign revenue share
was attributed to the increasing dominance of foreign-controlled
firms in the transportation equipment, electronics and chemical
sectors.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
