Growing concerns relating to Corporate Social Responsibility, investment protection and the situation that Canadian companies may now own more mines outside of Canada than inside of Canada (due to recent foreign acquisitions of some large Canadian mining companies), has increased the policy demand for information/data on the international presence of Canada’s exploration, mining and minerals industry.
These concerns have increased the demand for information and data on the Canadian mining activities on the basis of tangibles assets which give important details on the actual operations of Canadian mining firms abroad.
In response to these concerns, the Minerals and Metals Sector has developed an asset-based approach to the evaluation of capital expenditure made by Canadian-based companies abroad.
The approach uses audited annual reports (from 2001 until now) and defines an investment as property, plant and equipment, and deferred exploration expenditures at cost (book value) less accumulated amortization and write-downs.
Statistics Canada does not currently produce any country-specific information on exploration and mining assets of Canadian companies abroad. The Minerals and Metals Sector has now a list of all the Canadian mining companies per country, their operating facilities/mines and their tangible assets from 2001 to 2006. Based on our knowledge, this exercise has never been done before and we think that this new tool will contribute to a more precise assessment of the presence and influence of the Canadian companies abroad.
