The first Crown Corporation in Canada was established in 1941. Although there are fewer of them today during a political era that expresses less interest in government involvement in the economy, they were once a very significant feature of Canada's economy.

And they remain relatively important today. In fact, Canada's economy is called a "Mixed Economy" because of the existence of Crown Corporations. Crown Corporations mark a central distinction between the Canadian and USAmerican economic organization.

Crown Corporations are particularly notable in Canada in the fields of transportation, communication, finance, and the resource sectors because distance/space is such a significant factor in the movement of Canadian people, information, and raw materials/goods: Canadian National Railway and Air Canada were both originally Crown Corporations in the transportation sector.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and its French-Canadian counterpart, Radio-Canada, remain Crown Corporations today in the field of communications. Most provinces' telephone companies were originally Crown Corporations, although they are no longer so today. Petro-Canada, which has also now been privatized, Ontario Hydro, Hydro Québec, and the Canadian Wheat Board are examples in the utilities and "goods" sector. Petro-Canada was established to give the federal government a presence in the oil refining industry and in the commercial sale of oil and gasoline.

The Export Development Corporation, the Business Development Bank of Canada, and the Farm Credit Corporation are all examples of institutions that government created to help provide financial services to particular segments of the economy. The need for Crown Corporations remains a matter of debate in Canada.

For some Canadians, the decrease in the number of Crown Corporations suggests a change in direction of policy towards a USAmerican-style economy. This is seen as undesirable by those Canadians who expect a strong government presence in their lives. Other Canadians see the tradition of government presence as the reason why the Canadian economy is weaker than the USAmerican economy.