Crown corporations of Canada

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.

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