Methodology & Footnotes
Eligibility Criteria
Companies eligible for the Venture 100 List must be headquartered in Alberta. For-profit public, private and Crown corporations are eligible. Companies that are consolidated with their parent company should be accounted for under the parent company.
The PWC Private 50 list features privately held corporations based in Alberta. It excludes public companies, Crown and other government-owned corporations and wholly owned subsidiaries of multinationals.
Revenue
Revenues are for fiscal 2008 (see exceptions in “Items of Note” below). Revenues for oil and gas producers are net of royalties. Revenues for gaming organizations exclude paid prizes. Also excluded are non-operating revenues such as dividends, interest, equity, discontinued operations and unspecified other income. Other income for financial institutions such as service fees and other banking-related income are included in revenue as they are considered a normal part of business operations.
Revenue expressed in U.S. dollars is converted using an average rate for 2007 of 1.075 and an average for 2008 of 1.066. Some 2007 revenues have been restated to be consistent with the current-year revenue inclusion policy.
Net Income
Net income is after interest and income tax. Certain companies have requested that net income figures not be published. These companies are excluded from profit rankings.
Net losses are indicated by minus signs.
Assets
Assets reported in U.S. dollars are converted at the year-end rate for 2008 of 1.2246.
Not Available
Where noted with n/a, information is either not available, withheld from disclosure or not applicable.
Stock Exchanges
Abbreviations have been used to indicate the following public exchanges:
T = Toronto Stock Exchange
TV = TSX Venture Exchange
NY = New York Stock Exchange
ND = Nasdaq
AM = American Stock Exchange
L = London Stock Exchange
AD = Abu Dhabi Exchange
O = Oslo Exchange
In cases where the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly traded corporation, the ticker symbol and exchange of the parent company is stated.
Sources of Information
Data has been compiled from audited financial statements from the companies’ 2008 year-ends, in conjunction with applications submitted by the companies. Where audited financial statements were not available, amounts reported by the company on the application form were used. In such cases, these amounts are only representations of the company and amounts have not been independently verified.
The remaining sources include publicly available information from sources such as SEDAR, EDGAR and widely published lists such as the Financial Post Business FP500, Report on Business Top 1000 and Profit 100.
Items of Note
All figures are for calendar 2008, except for (with year-end): Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (March 31, 2008), PCL Constructors Inc. (Oct. 31, 2008), Shaw Communications Inc. (Aug. 31, 2008), Jacobs Canada Inc. (Sept. 30, 2008), Murphy Oil Co. Ltd. (Sept. 30, 2008), The Forzani Group Ltd. (Feb. 1, 2009), ATB Financial (Mar. 31, 2008), Calgary Co-operative Association Ltd. (Nov. 1, 2008), North American Energy Partners Inc. (Mar. 31, 2009), Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (March 31, 2009), Servus Credit Union (Oct. 31, 2008), Canadian Western Bank (Oct. 31, 2008), Smart Technologies Inc. (March 31, 2009), Lilydale Inc. (Jan. 31, 2009), Clark Builders (Feb. 28, 2009), BJ Services Co. Canada (Sept. 30, 2008), Lockerbie & Hole Contracting Ltd. (Feb. 29, 2008), Sureway Construction Group (April 30, 2008), Design Group Staffing Inc. (Jan. 31, 2009), Apex Distribution Inc. (April 30, 2008), Supreme Group Inc. (June 30, 2009), Homes by Avi (Canada) Inc. (Nov. 30, 2008), Meyers Norris Penny LLP (May 31, 2008), Focus Group Holding Inc. (Aug. 31, 2008), Chandos Holdings Ltd. (Oct. 31, 2008), S.i. Systems Ltd. (June 30, 2008), Grande Cache Coal Corporation (Mar. 31, 2008), Commercial Solutions Inc. (Sept. 30, 2008), The Cash Store Financial Services Inc. (June 30, 2008), Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Inc. (Sept. 30, 2008), First Calgary Savings & Credit Union Ltd. (Oct. 31, 2008), Planet Organic Health Corp. (June 30, 2008) and Winalta Inc. (Oct. 31, 2008).
Superior Plus Income Fund became Superior Plus Corp. in January 2009.
Progress Energy Resources Corp. is the result of the January 2009 merger of ProEx Energy Limited and Progress Energy Trust.
Financials for Opti Canada Inc. were restated on June 3, 2009, indicating the revenue figure provided.
Pearl Exploration and Production Ltd. was renamed Black Pearl Resources Inc. in 2008.
Gibson Energy Ltd., #23 on last year’s Venture 100, was taken private by a subsidiary of the Riverstone/Carlyle funds in Dec. 2008 and its financial results are no longer available. Taqa North Ltd., #50 on last year’s list, elected not to submit a revenue figure this year and therefore does not appear on the list.
Duvernay Oil Corp., #108 on last year’s Next 100, was acquired by Royal Dutch Shell plc in 2008.
Revenues for Syncrude Canada Ltd. were derived from the Report on Business Top 1000.
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