"Mark Carney Claims Fossil Fuel Expansion Is ‘Canada Strong,’ but U.S. Investors Get the Profits" Credit DeSmog

 

New data show American capital now controls most of Canada’s oil and gas sector while jobs vanish, royalties lag, and billions flow south.

By Mitch Anderson

onDec 16, 2025 @ 12:11 PST

Series: Carney's Climate Betrayal

 

"Out of the “Big Four” oil sands giants, 73 percent are foreign-owned and 60 percent U.S.-owned, leaving Canadian investors control over just 27 percent." Credit: DeSmog

"Prime Minister Mark Carney has been playing up protecting Canada’s energy sovereignty by expanding fossil fuel extraction. But who owns the oil patch?

The reality is that U.S. capital controls the majority of oil and gas companies operating in Canada and that American ownership of the Canadian oil resources is increasing. Recent reporting from Oilprice.com shows that U.S. equity owns 59 percent of Canadian fossil fuel companies, up from 56 percent in 2024. Over the same period, Canadian ownership declined from 37 percent to 34 percent. Is this what Canada Strong looks like?

The situation is even more stark for the four largest Canadian bitumen producers, according to a recent report from the nonprofit group Canadians for Tax Fairness. Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, Imperial Oil, and Suncor Energy are 73 percent foreign-owned, and 60 percent U.S.-owned, the report shows. Canadian investors control only 27 percent of these “Big Four” sands giants.

These companies raked in $131.6 billion in profits between 2021 and 2024 and paid out almost $80 billion of this windfall to foreign shareholder buyback and dividends. This is considerably more than the $60 billion paid over the same period to the Albertan owners of the resource through provincial bitumen royalties. Since the majority of shareholders are outside Alberta, $49.3 billion of buyback and dividend revenue ended up in the pockets of U.S. investors." Credit: DeSmog