The Montreal-based aluminum maker Alcan Inc. acquired French manufacturer Pechiney SA in January to become the world's second-largest producer, operating in 58 countries with 88,000 employees.
Magna International Inc., an auto-parts maker that began in an Ontario tool-and-die shop, is one of the largest in the world. It is forging new ground by becoming involved in final assembly at some BMW and DaimlerChrysler plants in Europe.
Problems at Bombardier, the Quebec-based aircraft and train manufacturer, trouble analysts concerned about Canada's "global footprint."
(Norm Betts -- Bloomberg News)
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Cirque du Soleil has 3,000 employees worldwide to put on its shows in 100 cities around the world. The Four Seasons and Fairmont hotel chains are based in Canada. Manulife Financial Corp. and Sun Life Financial Inc. sell services worldwide.
Canada's traditional big industries -- energy, oil, natural resources -- draw notice from foreign investors in part because of the high prices those commodities are bringing. Noranda Inc., Canada's largest mining operation, is being courted by China Minmetals Corp., to the apprehension of some here. Stelco Inc., Canada's biggest steel company, is under court protection and a Russian firm, Severstal, has bid for the company.
Corporate buyouts have long been a source of controversy in Canada, which is always nervous about losing its national identity to the United States.
"It's been an ongoing problem since the beginning of the country," Moore said. "We are living next to a dominant economy, the most vibrant in the world."
Still, it stung Canadians this summer when the Hudson's Bay Co., the original fur-traders' store that helped make Canada, was courted by Target Corp. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has bought out retailers here, just as it has in the United States, and controls an estimated 52 percent of the Canadian department store industry. Molson Inc., which makes the Canadian everyman's beer, will vote on whether to merge with Adolph Coors Co. next month.
Even Tim Hortons, a homegrown fast-food chain that markets itself with sentimental ads of displaced Canadians longing for its doughnuts, is a subsidiary of Wendy's International Inc.
Other companies encourage such confusion. Future Shop, known as a Canadian retail electronics giant, is a subsidiary of Best Buy Co. Radio Shack promotes its business here with a maple leaf. Starbucks has moved onto the ground floor of Chapters, a Canadian bookstore.
Canada periodically worries about warnings that foreigners are gobbling up its companies and "hollowing out" Canada's corporate soul. Studies generally do not support the fears, however.
