Though geographers have long recognized the importance of the capital flows underlying the circulation of goods and people, especially on a regional basis, they have had little concern for the international movements of money, whose impact is difficult to measure. The present is characterized by a rapid increase, in most countries, of direct foreign investment and foreign ownership of industry. Using statistics and recent studies on the subject, the author examines the increasing gap between developed and under-developed countries, the changing nature and size of flows (goods, people, information, innovation) and the impact of foreign investment on spatial structures in the receiving countries. These investments tend to emphasize regional disparities and modify spatial patterns. Despite the fact that most examples were drawn from Canada, we may expect, in the near future, the development of these trends troughout the world with the increasing power of multinational enterprises and the advent of a new industrial system.