Top 25 IT Multinationals   

Foreign multinational companies operating in Canada are an integral component of the nation’s IT landscape. These organizations help create competition, as well as partnerships, with many Canadian organizations. These companies also create employment for talented people in Canada, and encourage growth and innovation within Canada’s IT sector. This year’s Top 25 Multinational Companies list saw the return of the top five heavyweights from last year: IBM, HP, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Xerox. In addition, there were three newcomers to this year’s list—Motorola, Ericsson and Apple—each producing solid Canadian revenue growth in 2006.



IBM Canada produced roughly the same revenues as last year, placing it in the number one spot amongst Canadian multinational companies. The company produced an estimated $5 billion in revenues and was involved in a variety of interesting activities. A number of these were in the health care and law-enforcement sectors. The company teamed up with the University Health Network to develop a solution to analyze protein interactions, enabling health professionals to better understand cancer biology and treatment. IBM also signed a $10 million contract with the Alberta government to deploy a new electronic health records system and helped the City of Cape Breton in N.S., with a new research technology solution that automates the capturing and sharing of crime evidence.

Microsoft Canada, the number three ranked multinational this year, produced estimated revenues of $1.55 billion—a yearover- year increase of 29 per cent. Microsoft continues to excel in Canada, one of its key markets. Microsoft Canada has a wide range of accounts in Canada including The Canadian Institute for the Blind, Public Health Agency of Canada, RBC Financial Group, Shoppers Drug Mart and WorkSafeBC. Microsoft has also been very proactive in building a network of .Net professional services and products companies.

Oracle Canada produced the highest yearover- year revenue growth rate of all the Top 25 Multinational Companies. It earned $550 million in Canada, an increase of 51 per cent over its 2005 result of $365 million. This significant increase in revenue comes from a nucleus of initial and ongoing projects with a range of clients from different industry sectors, such as Petro-Canada, Bank of Montreal, TD Bank, Nissan Canada and Hudson’s Bay Company.

Other companies returning to the list that have shown significant revenue growth include Sun Microsystems Canada at 18 per cent, Symantec Canada at 41 per cent, SAS Canada at 31 per cent and Primus Telecommunications at 25 per cent. This year’s new companies have provided significant revenue growth figures as well. Motorola Canada produced an estimated $952.6 million in revenues with 20 per cent year-over-year revenue growth, while Ericsson Canada made an estimated $610 million with 13 per cent year-over-year growth. Apple Canada produced the highest revenue growth of the newcomers with 39 per cent, earning an estimated $768 million in revenues in 2006. A strong list of foreign multinational companies was operating within Canada in 2006, with 80 per cent of the entrants producing revenue growth in the year. It is expected that these companies will continue to make a significant contribution.

To view last year's list of Top 25 IT Multinationals please click here

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