The Canada Development Corporation was a Canadian corporation created and partly owned by the federal government and charged with developing and maintaining Canadian-controlled companies in the private sector through a mixture of public and private investment. It was technically not a crown corporation as it was intended to generate a profit and was created with the intention that, eventually, the government would own no more than 10% of its holdings; it did not require approvals of the Governor-in-Council for its activities and did not report to parliament

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

. Its objectives and capitalization, however, were set out by parliament and any changes to its objects decided upon by the Board of Directors had to be approved by parliament.

The CDC was created as a result of Walter Gordon

Walter Gordon

Walter Gordon may refer to:*Jamaa Fanaka, African-American filmmaker . He is sometimes credited as either Walt Gordon or Walter Gordon....

's Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects

Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects

The Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects was initiated by the Louis St. Laurent government in order to develop recommendations regarding the Canadian economy. Chaired by Walter L...

, and the 1968 Watkins Report

Mel Watkins

Mel Watkins is a Canadian political economist and activist. He is professor emeritus of economics and political science at the University of Toronto...

 commissioned by Gordon, in an attempt to redress the problem of foreign ownership

Foreign ownership

Foreign ownership refers to the complete or majority ownership/control of a business or resource in a country by individuals who are not citizens of that country, or by companies whose headquarters are not in that country.-See also:...

 in the Canadian economy by stimulating the development of Canadian owned corporations, particularly in the field of natural resources and industry.

Some 31,000 private shareholders invested in the corporation.

Major investments owned by the CDC included holdings in petroleum, mines and petrochemicals including Polymer Corporation

Polymer corporation

Polymer Corporation was a Canadian federal crown corporation established in 1942 to produce artificial rubber to substitute for overseas supply cut off by World War II. A factory was established in Sarnia, Ontario where, using German patents from an American licensee, Polymer produced 5000 tons of...

, an asset transferred to it by the Canadian government.

In 1986 the Corporation was dismantled as part of the Mulroney

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...

 government's program of privatization

Privatization

Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

.