Crown corporation
Encyclopedia : C : CR : CRO : Crown corporation
In Commonwealth Realms, a Crown corporation is a state-controlled company or enterprise (a public corporation). The term is most widely used in Canada, and this article mainly deals with Canadian Crown corporations.
Canadian Crown Corporations
Crown corporations, in theory, operate on a day-to-day basis at arm's length from the government. In theory, direct control by government is exerted only over the corporation's budget and the appointment of its chairperson and directors.
In Canada, Crown corporations are operated both by provincial governments (the Crown-in-Right-of-Ontario, for example) and the federal government (the Crown-in-Right-of-Canada), as a means to pursue economic, social and political objectives including patronage. Canadian Crown corporations 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. They are also frequently used to give governments access to financial markets to provide financing for development and capital projects.
Two of the most significant Canadian Crown corporations of the 20th century were the Canadian National Railways and Air Canada. Both were monetized and are now publically traded corporations. Other significant Crown corporations include the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, VIA Rail, and Marine Atlantic.
Crown corporations in Canada are no longer widely used instruments of public policy. Their heyday was the period from 1918 (Canadian National Railway being the first) through to 1981 (with Canada Post turned into a Crown Corporation).
Examples
Examples of federal Crown corporations in Canada [link]:
- Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
- Business Development Bank
- Canada Council
- Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
- Canada Lands Company
- Canada Post
- Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Canadian Race Relations Foundation
- Cape Breton Development Corporation
- Defence Construction Canada
- Export Development Canada
- Farm Credit Canada
- International Development Research Centre
- Marine Atlantic
- National Film Board of Canada
- VIA Rail Canada
- Alberta Treasury Branches
- BC Hydro
- GO Transit
- Hydro One
- Hydro-Québec
- Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC)
- Liquor Control Board of Ontario
- Manitoba Hydro
- Manitoba Public Insurance Corp.
- NB Power
- Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
- Ontario Power Generation
- Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI)
- SaskEnergy
- SaskPower
- SaskTel
- Société de transport de Montréal
- Société des alcools du Québec
- Sydney Steel Corporation
- TV Ontario
Privatized ex-Crown corporations
Several Canadian companies used to be Crown corporations but are now privatized, examples being:
- Air Canada
- Alberta Government Telephones
- BC Ferries
- Cameco Corporation
- Canadian National Railway
- Manitoba Telephone System
- Nova Scotia Power
- Petro-Canada
- Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS)
- Saskatchewan Government Airways
- Teleglobe
- Telus
- Wascana Energy
Federal Agencies
(not Crown Corporations)
See also
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