Lululemon Athletica has confirmed it remains committed to keeping its headquarters in Canada, despite reports earlier this week raising fears it might leave.

The yogawear retailer had submitted a pre-budget report to a House of Commons finance committee on July 29 that stated that its growth and ability to remain headquartered in Vancouver would depend on being able to hire international highly skilled and specialized talent, which is limited by the temporary foreign worker program.

In response to news reports, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson expressed concerns that companies would consider leaving due to immigration policies.

Today (October 21), Reuters reported that Lululemon chief executive Laurent Potdevin stated that the company is "proud of our Canadian heritage" and "deeply committed to remaining here for the long term".

The company clarified that the submission was intended to be a request for the same type of federal exemption that the film industry and universities already receive.

Lululemon wants to hire workers without filing a labour market impact assessment transition plan, which would detail how the employer would transition to a Canadian workforce. 

The apparel company was founded in Vancouver in 1998 and has over 10,000 employees globally. It has 3,400 employees in Canada, with 7,000 in British Columbia and 1,200 of them at the Vancouver head office.