Foreign direct investment: facts and perceptions about Canada

Recently improved data on foreign direct economic control and foreign direct investment (FDI) ave used to evaluate common perceptions of the degree of Canadian dependency: Including financial corporations in measures of foreign control yields rates of foreign control that are lower than those traditionally cited. Foreign and U.S. control in Canada declined in recent decades and only minor changes are evident since 'free' trade went into effect. Contrary to what is often assumed, Canada's rate of inward FDI is lower than in some advanced capitalist countries and its outward rate of FDI is higher than most G7 countries. The concentration of Canadian direct investment in the U.S. is similar to that many West European countries in the rest of Western Europe. The findings indicate that Canada is a 'core', not 'dependent' capitalist country.