🇨🇦 Foreign ownership of Canadian brands
22.3% of the 242 Canadian brands with a controlling owner (54) are owned by a company headquartered outside Canada, most often in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. That ranks 34 of 94 countries analysed.
Which countries own them
| Owner headquartered in | Brands | Share of foreign-owned | Bar |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 United States | 34 | 63% | |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 🇨🇳 China | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 🇫🇷 France | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 🇫🇮 Finland | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 🇮🇳 India | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 1 | 1.9% |
The remaining 2 owner countries are not shown.
Largest foreign owners
| Owner | Headquarters | Canadian brands owned |
|---|---|---|
| Sapporo | 🇯🇵 Japan | 3 |
| EA | 🇺🇸 United States | 2 |
| Estée Lauder | 🇺🇸 United States | 2 |
| Molson Coors | 🇺🇸 United States | 2 |
| Six Flags | 🇺🇸 United States | 2 |
| TJX | 🇺🇸 United States | 2 |
| Trupanion | 🇺🇸 United States | 2 |
| Amer Sports | 🇫🇮 Finland | 1 |
| Aviva | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 1 |
| BWXT | 🇺🇸 United States | 1 |
Where foreign ownership is highest
Top-level categories with at least 5 Canadian brands that have a controlling owner.
| Category | Brands | Foreign-owned | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet & digital | 9 | 7 | 77.8% |
| Beverages | 15 | 9 | 60% |
| Apparel, footwear & accessories | 9 | 4 | 44.4% |
| Finance & insurance | 39 | 7 | 17.9% |
| Energy | 40 | 7 | 17.5% |
| Media & entertainment | 21 | 3 | 14.3% |
| Food | 34 | 4 | 11.8% |
| Home, garden & DIY | 19 | 2 | 10.5% |
Examples
- Algoma Tubes owned by Tenaris
- Andlauer Healthcare Group owned by UPS
- Arc'teryx owned by Amer Sports
- Assassin's Creed owned by Ubisoft
- Aviva Canada owned by Aviva
- Baby Gourmet owned by Hero Group
- Bitmoji owned by Snap
- Black Velvet owned by Heaven Hill
- Blondo owned by Steve Madden
- Burnaby Refinery owned by Sunoco
- CNOOC Petroleum North America owned by CNOOC
- CanaDream owned by thl
How this is computed
Of 244 Canadian brands recorded, 242 have a current controlling owner (outright or a stake of 50% or more, followed up to the ultimate parent). The other 2 are licensed, part-owned or lack a current owner and are left out. A brand is foreign-owned when that ultimate parent is headquartered in a different country from the brand's origin. Data as of . Method and ranking for all countries.
Coverage caveat. The brands tracked skew towards those held by large filing companies, so this overstates foreign ownership relative to every brand in the country. See also the Canada country page.