Canadian Crown corporations are enterprises owned by the Sovereign of Canada (ie. the Crown). They are established by an act of the relevant parliament and report to that body via a minister of the Crown in the relevant cabinet, though they are "shielded from constant government intervention and legislative oversight" and thus "generally enjoy greater freedom from direct political control than government departments."
Crown corporations have a very long standing presence in the country and have been instrumental in the formation of the state. They can provide services required by the public that otherwise would not be economically viable as a private enterprise, or don't fit exactly within the scope of any ministry. They are involved in everything from the distribution, use, and price of certain goods and services to energy development, resource extraction, public transportation, cultural promotion, and property management.
In Canada, Crown corporations, within either the federal or provincial spheres, are owned by the monarch, as the institution's sole legal shareholder; this follows the legal premise that the Crown, as an institution, owns all the property of state. Crown corporations although owned in right of the Crown, are in fact operated at arm's length from the Queen-in-Council (the government) with direct control over operations only being exerted over the corporation's budget and the appointment of its chairperson and directors through Orders-in-Council.
Some Crown corporations are expected to be profitable organisations, while others are non-commercial and rely entirely on public funds to operate. Further, in the federal sphere, certain Crown corporations can be an agents or non-agent of the Queen in Right of Canada. One with agent status is entitled to the same constitutional prerogatives, privileges, and immunities held by the Crown and can bind the Crown by its acts. The Crown is thus entirely responsible for the actions of these organisations. The Crown is not liable for Crown corporations with non-agent status, except for actions of that corporation carried out on instruction from the government, though there may be "moral obligations" on the part of the Crown in other circumstances.
Prior to the formation of Crown corporations as presently understood, much of what later became Canada was settled and governed by a similar type of entity called a chartered company. These companies were established by a royal charter by the Scottish, English, or French crown, but were owned by private investors. They fulfilled the dual roles of promoting government policy abroad and making a return for shareholders. Certain companies were mainly trading businesses, by some were given a mandate (by royal charter) to govern a specific territory called a charter colony, and the head of this colony, called a proprietary governor, was both a business manager and the governing authority in the area. The first colonies on the island of Newfoundland were founded in this manner, between 1610 and 1728.
Canada's most famous, and influential chartered company, was the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), founded on May 2, 1670, by royal charter of King Charles II. The HBC became the world's largest land owner, at one point overseeing 7,770,000 km2 (3,000,000 sq mi), territories that today incorporate the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon. The HBC thus often being the point of first contact between the colonial government and First Nations. By the late 19th century, however, the HBC lost its monopoly over Rupert's Land and became a fully privatised company.
The first major Canadian experience with directly state-owned enterprises came during the early growth of the railways. During the earlier part of the century, many British North American colonies that now comprise the Canadian federation had Crown corporations, often in the form of railways, such as the Nova Scotia Railway, since there was limited private capital available for such endeavours. When four British colonies joined to create the Canadian federation in 1867, these railways were transferred to the new central government. As well, the construction of the Intercolonial Railway between them was one of the terms of the new constitution. The first section of this entirely government-owned railway was completed in 1872.
Western Canada's early railways were all run by privately owned companies backed by government subsidies and loans. By the early twentieth century, however, many of these had become bankrupt. The federal government nationalized several failing Western railways and combined them with its existing Intercolonial and other line in the East to create Canadian National Railways (CNR) in 1918 as a transcontinental system. The CNR was unique in that was a conglomerate, and besides passenger and freight rail, it had inherited major business interests in shipping, hotels, and telegraphy and was able create new lines of business in broadcasting and air travel. Many of the components of this business empire where later spun off into new Crown corporations including some the most important businesses in the mid-twentieth century economy of Canada, such Air Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Via Rail, and Marine Atlantic.
Provincial Crown corporations also re-emerged in the early twentieth century, most notably in the selling of alcohol. Government monopoly liquor stores were seen as a compromise between the recently ended era of Prohibition in Canada and the excesses of the previous open market which had led to calls for prohibition in the first place. Virtually all the provinces used this system at one point. The largest of these government liquor businesses, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (founded 1927), was by 2008 one of the world's largest alcohol retailers. Resource and utility companies also emerged at this time, notably Ontario Hydro in 1906, Alberta Government Telephones in 1906, and SaskTel in 1908. Provincial governments also re-entered the railway business as in Northern Alberta Railways in 1925 and what later became BC Rail in 1918. A notable anomaly of this era is Canada's only provincially owned "bank" (though not called that for legal reasons) Alberta Treasury Branches, created in 1937.
New crown Corporations were also created throughout much of the mid-century. A government-owned bank, Business Development Bank of Canada was created in 1944. The federal Post Office Department became a Crown corporation as Canada Post Corporation in 1981, and Canada's export credit agency, Export Development Canada, was created in 1985. Perhaps the most controversial was Petro-Canada, Canada's short-lived attempt to create a national oil company, founded in 1975.
Not only the federal government was involved, but also the provinces, who were in engaged in an era of "province building" (expanding the reach and importance of the provincial governments) around this time. The prototypical example is undoubtedly Hydro-Québec, founded in 1944 and now Canada's largest electricity generator and the world's largest producer of hydro-electricy. It is widely seen as a symbol of modern Quebec, helping to create the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s where French-speakers in Quebec rose to positions of influence in the industrial economy for the first time, and Quebec nationalism emerged as a political force. This model followed by SaskPower in 1944 and BC Hydro in 1961. Other areas provinces were active in included insurance (Saskatchewan Government Insurance, 1945)
The heyday of Crown corporations ended in the late 1980s, and there has been much privatization since that time, particularly at the federal level. Air Canada was privatized in 1988 and CN in 1995.
Atlantic Pilotage Authority
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
Bank of Canada
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
Canada Council for the Arts (Canada Council)
Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation
Canada Development Investment Corporation
Canada Lands Company
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Canada Post Corporation
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA)
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
Canadian Commercial Corporation
Canadian Dairy Commission
Canadian Museum of History
Canadian Museum of Nature
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Canadian Tourism Commission
Defence Construction (1951) Limited
Export Development Canada
Farm Credit Canada
Federal Bridge Corporation Limited
Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
Great Lakes Pilotage Authority
International Development Research Centre
Laurentian Pilotage Authority
Marine Atlantic Inc.
National Arts Centre
National Capital Commission
National Gallery of Canada
National Museum of Science and Technology Corporation
Old Port of Montreal Corporation Inc.
Pacific Pilotage Authority
Parc Downsview Park Inc.
Public Sector Pension Investment Board
Ridley Terminals Inc.
Royal Canadian Mint
Standards Council of Canada
Telefilm Canada
Via Rail
Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
Alberta Capital Finance Authority (ACFA)
Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)
Alberta Pensions Services Corporation
Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission (APMC)
Alberta Research Council
Alberta Treasury Branches (ATB Financial)
Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation (Alberta) (CUDGC)
Travel Alberta
BC Assessment Authority
B.C. Council for International Education
BC Games Society
British Columbia Housing Management Commission (BC Housing)
BC Hydro (formed in 1961 taking over the assets of the British Columbia Electric Railway)
BC Immigrant Investment Fund
BC Innovation Council (BCIC)
BC Lottery Corporation
BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo)
BC Pension Corporation
BC Transit
BC Transportation Financing Authority
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC)
British Columbia Lottery Corporation
British Columbia Public School Employers' Association
British Columbia Railway Company
British Columbia Securities Commission
Columbia Basin Trust
Columbia Power Corporation
Community Living BC
Community Social Services Employers' Association
Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area
Crown Corporations Employers' Association
Destination BC
First Peoples' Cultural Council
Forestry Innovation Investment
Health Employers Association of British Columbia
Homeowner Protection Office
Industry Training Authority
Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBCformed in 1973)
Knowledge Network(TV channel)
Legal Services Society
Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund Society
Oil and Gas Commission (formed in 1998)
Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia
Pacific Carbon Trust
Partnerships British Columbia Inc.
Post-secondary Employers' Association of British Columbia
Private Career Training Institutions Agency
Ridley Terminals, Inc. Port of Prince Rupert
Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM)
Transportation Investment Corporation (formed in 2008)
Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation
Manitoba Arts Council
Manitoba Boxing Commission
Manitoba Film and Music
Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation
Manitoba Hydro
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries (MBLL) http://www.mbll.ca/
Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation (MPIC)
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
Financial and Consumer Services Commission
NB Power
New Brunswick Liquor Corporation
Service New Brunswick
New Brunswick Community College
New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nalcor Energy
Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation
Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation
Research & Development Corporation
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Film and Creative Industries Nova Scotia
Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission
Harbourside Commercial Park Inc. (HCPI)
Highway 104 Western Alignment Corporation (created by statute but independent of government)
Industrial Estates Limited (former)
Innovacorp
Nova Scotia Agricultural College (former – now merged into Dalhousie University)
Nova Scotia Arts Council
Nova Scotia Beef Commission
Nova Scotia Business Incorporated
Nova Scotia Crop and Livestock Insurance Commission
Nova Scotia Farm Loan Board
Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation
Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation
Nova Scotia Harness Racing Incorporated
Nova Scotia Housing Development Corporation
Nova Scotia Lands Incorporated (NSLI)
Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC)
Nova Scotia Municipal Finance Corporation (NSMFC)
Nova Scotia Power Finance Corporation
Nova Scotia Power (former)
Nova Scotia Resources Limited
Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc.
Renova Scotia Bioenergy Inc. (former Bowater Mersey assets)
Rockingham Terminal Inc.
Sydney Environmental Resources Limited
Sydney Steel Corporation (dormant – remediation and redevelopment of former SYSCO estates now conducted by NSLI and HCPI)
Tidal Power Corporation
Trade Centre Limited
TrentonWorks (former – sold to Daewoo)
Waterfront Development Corporation Limited
Crown corporations in Ontario are sometimes referred to as Crown agencies:
Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario
Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority
Cancer Care Ontario
GroupeMédia TFO
Independent Electricity System Operator
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
Metrolinx
Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund
Ontario Agricorp
Ontario Clean Water Agency
Ontario Educational Communications Authority
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
Ontario Northland Transportation Commission
Ontario Power Generation
Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Securities Commission
Royal Ontario Museum
Science North
Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown Area Development Corporation
Innovation PEI
Island Investment Development Inc.
P.E.I. Student Financial Assistance Corporation
Island Waste Management Corporation
P.E.I. Aquaculture and Fisheries Research Initiative Inc.
Prince Edward Island Agricultural Insurance Corporation
Prince Edward Island Energy Corporation
Prince Edward Island Grain Elevators Corporation
Prince Edward Island Liquor Control Commission
Prince Edward Island Self-Insurance and Risk Management Fund
Summerside Regional Development Corporation
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Hydro-Québec
Investissement Québec (merged with the Société Générale de Financement du Québec in 2010)
Société des alcools du Québec
Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec
Société des casinos du Québec
Société de transport de Montréal
Télé-Québec
Loto-Québec
Crown Investments Corporation
Enterprise Saskatchewan
Investment Saskatchewan
Municipal Financing Corporation of Saskatchewan (MFC)
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC)
Saskatchewan Development Fund Corporation
Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation
Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation
Saskatchewan Government Growth Fund Management Corporation
Saskatchewan Government Insurance
Saskatchewan Housing Corporation
Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority
Saskatchewan Opportunities Corporation
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holdings Corporation
Saskatchewan Transportation Company
SaskEnergy
SaskPower
SaskWater
Northwest Territories Power Corporation
NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation
NWT Housing Corporation
Qulliq Energy
Nunavut Arctic College
Nunavut Power
Yukon Energy Corporation
Yukon Hospital Corporation
Several private Canadian companies were once Crown corporations, including:
Air Canada (privatized in 1988)
Alberta Government Telephones / BCTel (Now Telus Communications)
British Columbia Electric Railway (private company from 1891 to 1961 when it was nationalized and formed into BC Hydro before the rail portion was sold in 1989)
BC Rail
BC Ferries
British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation (defunct in 1997)
BC Rail Communications (formed in 1972 and sold in 1993 as Westel)
Blue Water Bridge Authority
Cameco Corporation
Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB)
Canadair (formed as a Crown Corp in 1944, privatized in 1946, acquired by government in 1976, privatized in 1986)
Canadian National Railway
Cape Breton Growth Fund Corporation
Clairtone Sound Corporation Limited (former)
CTV Two Alberta (formerly Access or Alberta Educational Communications Corporation formed in 1973 and privatized 1995)
de Havilland Canada (formed as a private company in 1928, nationalized during World War 2, privatized in 1986)
Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited (Part of Cameco Corporation)
Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation
Hydro One (privatized in 2016)
Highway 407 ETR
Intercolonial Railway (merged in Canadian National Railway in 1918)
Manitoba Telephone System (Now MTS Allstream)
Northern Transportation Company Limted
Nova Scotia Power (formed in 1918, privatized in 1992)
Petro-Canada
Polymer Corporation
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS)
Saskatchewan Communications Network
Saskatchewan Government Airways
Saskatchewan Minerals
Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation (Part of Cameco Corporation)
Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Corporation
SPUDCO
Teleglobe (formed in 1950, privatized in 1987 (to Memotec, later to BCE and finally VSNL) and absorbed into Tata operations in Canada)
Telesat
Tourism British Columbia (formed in 1997)
Wascana Energy
