Source: Global Affairs Canada

With there being so much discussion of the influence of foreign owners generally--and those from China specifically--on Vancouver's residential real estate market, it got us thinking about the extent to which other countries are invested in all sectors of the Canadian economy (not just real estate). This lead us to the viz presented above, which looks at foreign direct investment (FDI) in Canada by other countries in 2014.

(This "inward FDI" comprises the investments of individuals and firms from other countries in the financial capital--i.e. equity--of en existing company in Canada or in a new productive project in Canada.  Both types of FDI ultimately redirect profits to investors in the originating country.)

We were somewhat surprised to see that China's (stock) FDI in Canada was valued at only $25.1 billion in 2014, ranking it sixth among other countries--behind, among others, both Switzerland, which had $27.8 billion in FDI in Canada last year, and Luxembourg, at $53.6 billion. Not so surprisingly, the United States was firmly entrenched in the number one spot, with $361.4 billion in Canadian FDI, which accounted for 49% of total FDI in Canada last year.

That being said, the United States saw its Canadian FDI only rise by just under 14% between 2010 and 2014--the slowest growth among the top ten countries with the most FDI in Canada during this period (it's worth noting that France's Canadian FDI fell by 32%). Luxembourg experienced the fastest growth in FDI in Canada over this period, at 157%, followed by China at 107%. Among the remaining top ten countries, growth in Canadian FDI ranged from 14% (the UK) to 70% (Germany).