By Leila Lemghalef

Foreign companies lead employment growth across Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

Employment growth led by foreign majority-controlled firms was more than double the increase reported by Canadian-controlled firms, and employment in foreign firms is mostly concentrated in the manufacturing and retail sectors, based on survey findings released today.

Overall, employment grew 4.6 per cent in Canada between 2010 and 2013. Employment went up by 8.8 per cent at foreign majority-owned affiliates, more than twice as much the 4.1 per cent rise reported by domestic firms over the same period.

In Alberta, jobs within foreign-controlled firms increased twice as fast versus within Canadian-controlled firms.

In Quebec, employment growth at foreign-controlled firms was the lowest but still outpaced the growth at Canadian-controlled firms.

The mining, quarrying, and oil gas extraction sector registered the highest percentage of employment gains in foreign-owned companies, followed by the manufacturing and wholesale sectors.

Ontario held the largest share of foreign-controlled employment, followed by Quebec.

Employment in foreign majority-owned Canadian affiliates was 1.9 million in 2013, representative of 12.3 per cent of jobs in Canada.