Report reveals Canada has far more state-owned businesses than previously thought

CALGARY, Feb. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Crown corporations like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Canada Post are recognized nationwide. But these are only two of a large number of state-owned enterprises, a number which, as a report released today reveals, is far greater than previously thought.

Report authors Ken McKenzie and Daria Crisan of The School of Public Policy compile an inventory of all government-owned businesses in Canada. Unlike previous studies that have documented the number of federal Crown corporations, McKenzie and Crisan also include government-owned businesses at the provincial and municipal levels.

"The provincial Crown sector alone is significantly larger than the entire federal sector, whether we measure by assets, employees or contribution to national GDP," the authors write.

In total, the authors identify 47 federal and 181 provincial Crown corporations. In analyzing the financials of each of these businesses, McKenzie and Crisan conclude that while the provincial sector is only 43.6 per cent larger than the federal sector in terms of gross assets, it earns more than four times the revenue of the federal Crown corporations, generates substantially more in terms of net income, and hires more people.

They also estimate that the provincial Crown-corporation sector contributed more than $43 billion to Canadian GDP in 2010, about 2.7 per cent of GDP, versus the federal contribution of roughly $11.8 billion, or 0.7 per cent of GDP.

McKenzie and Crisan argue that the number of Crown corporations in Canada swells even higher when accounting for state-owned enterprises at the municipal level like Calgary's ENMAX. Due to the sheer number of municipalities and the differing faces of these businesses it is difficult to derive an exact number, although the authors estimate it is in the hundreds.

The report can be found at www.policyschool.ucalgary.ca/publications

SOURCE: The School of Public Policy - University of Calgary

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