Corporate Canada needs innovation: Conference Board.

Corporate Canada as a whole is not being hollowed-out, the Conference Board argues in a briefing based on its Mission Possible: Sustainable Prosperity for Canada report.

"Even as head offices and head-office employment continues to grow on a national aggregate basis, location matters," said Glen Hodgson, senior vice-president and chief economist, "because some cities and sectors are losing head offices and the jobs that go with them."

From 1999 to 2005, the number of head offices in Canada grew by 100 to 4,161, and head office employment grew by 11%, according to Statistics Canada data cited in Mission Possible: Stellar Canadian Performance in the Global Economy. Recent data also shows that during that period, head-office employment grew by 64% in Calgary, 28% in Ottawa and 19% in Toronto.

However, head-office employment didn't grow in Montreal, and it declined by 7% in Winnipeg and 29% in Vancouver. This is attributable in part to foreign acquisitions of Vancouver-based Canadian corporations.

"For Canadian-owned multinational enterprises to prosper in a global economy and increase their head office presence here, they must be oriented to international markets. They must also focus on innovation and research and development, and build local networks through industry associations, forums for labour market training, educational alliances and standards for corporate conduct," said Hodgson.

The briefing, Is Corporate Canada Being Hollowed-Out? It All Depends Where You Are, is available at www.e-library.ca.