BOOKS
There are many published works on specific companies. This is particularly true of prominent and active companies.
Search the Library’s website using the name of the company. For example: Eaton’s or Canadian Tire.
Use the following sample search words: [name of business] history e.g. T. Eaton Co. history [name of industry] [country] history e.g. department stores Canada history canadian tire Canada history
The following are some books on well-known companies:
Bothwell, Robert. Eldorado, Canada’s National Uranium Company. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984. 338.76223 B59
Brown, Ian. Freewheeling: The Feuds, Broods and Outrageous Fortunes of the Billes Family and Canada’s Favourite Company. Toronto: Harper & Collins, 1989. 338.76138 B38 B68
Cook, Peter. Massey at the Brink: The Story of Canada’s Greatest Multinational and Its Struggle to Survive. Toronto: Collins, 1981. 338.88971 C58
Denison, Merrill. Harvest Triumphant, the Story of Massey-Harris. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1948. 631.3 D25
Gibbs, Graham. Teaming a Product and a Global Market: a Canadian Marconi Company Success Story. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1997. 338.76291 G37
Lamb, William Kaye. Empress to the Orient. Vancouver: Vancouver Maritime Museum Society, 1991. 387.542 L12 This is a history of the early Canadian Pacific Railway Co.
MacLeod, Mary K. Whisper in the Air: Marconi, the Canadian Years, 1902-1946. Hantsport, NS: Lancelot Press, 1992. 621.3841 M13 M11
T. Eaton Co. The Story of a Store: Eaton’s of Canada founded (in) Toronto 1869. 1959. 338.76138 E13 E13
Tharp, Louise Hall. Company of Adventurers: The Story of the Hudson Bay Company. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1946. 971.2 T34
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Biographies
Locate biographies of individuals and their work in the business field by searching for their name or occupation.
The following sample words may be used: businessmen Canada biography businesspeople Canada biography [Name of person] Molson, John eaton biography
Some examples of biographies of major Canadian business people are included below:
Hunter, Doug. Molson: the Birth of a Business Empire. Toronto: Viking, 2001. 338.04092 M58 H78
McQueen, Rod. Can’t Buy Me Love: How Martha Billes made Canadian Tire Hers. Toronto: Stoddart, 2001. 381.12092 B38 M18
Santink, Joy L. Timothy Eaton and the Rise of his Department Store. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990. 338.76165 S12
Collected Biographies
Collected Biographies provide biographical information about a number of people. They may be organized by subject, country or time period.
Search by subject, location or keywords to find collected biographies.
The following sample search words may be used:
business Canada directories. businessmen Canada biography businesspeople Canada biography Canada biography
Some examples of collected biographies are as follows:
The Canadian Who’s Who. Toronto: Who’s Who Canadian Publications, 1910- Annual 920.071 C122
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966- 920.071 D37 This dictionary covers the time period from 1000 A.D. to the present. Each volume has several indices, including an index of identifications (i.e. occupations) that lists the individuals by occupation. These identifications include architects, business people, engineers, etc.
Directory of Directors in Canada. Toronto: Houston’s Standard Publications, 1906-1912. v.1, 2. 338.7 D392 This directory presents a list of Canadian businessmen and women and the directorships and offices they hold. It also includes a list of key Canadian companies, both publicly-traded and
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privately-owned, along with their addresses and the names of their executive officers and directors.
Kearney, Mark, and Randy Ray. I know that Name! The People Behind Canada’s Best Known Brand Names from Elizabeth Arden to Walter Zeller. Toronto: Hounslow Press, 2002. 338.09227 K24 More than 100 Canadian business people are profiled, all of whom have significant Canadian ties. Many of them were born in or immigrated to Canada.
McMann, Evelyn de R. Canadian Who’s Who. Index, 1898-1984: Incorporating Canadian Men and Women of the Time. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1986. 920.071 C122 Index.
National Reference Book. Toronto: Canadian Newspaper Services International. Toronto Reference Library’s holdings: 1927-1932. 920.071 N132
National Reference Book on Canadian Men and Women. Toronto: Canadian Newspaper Services International. Toronto Reference Library’s holdings: 1936-1944. 920.071 N132
National Reference Book on Canadian Personalities. Toronto: Canadian Newspaper Services International. Toronto Reference Library’s holdings: 1947-1954. 920.071 N132
Reference Book. Toronto: Canadian Newspaper Services International. Toronto Reference Llibrary’s holdings: 1927-1932. 920.071 N132
Who’s Who and Why in Canada (and in Newfoundland). Ottawa: Canadian Press Association. 1912. 920.071 W345
Who’s Who in Canada. Toronto: International Press. Toronto Reference Library’s holdings: 1922- 1941; 1943-1954; 1956-2001. 920.071 W35 This series has been in publication for most of the 20th century. It covers Canadians from all walks of life, including business and commerce.
Related Biographical Resources
Toronto Public Library subscribes to databases that contain useful biographical information, going back to the time period covered in this guide. Suggested databases: Financial Post (FP) Advisor and Biography in Context.
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Predecessor and Defunct Lists of Companies
Trace business history through name changes, mergers, acquisitions and dissolutions as well as companies that have become inactive.
Suggested titles:
FP survey: Predecessor and Defunct Companies: The Definitive Record of Changes to Companies, Active Companies Trading or Reporting, and Those No Longer in Existence, with Information Dating Back Over 78 Years. Toronto: Financial Post, 1981- Annual. 338.740971 F38 This information is currently also available electronically through Toronto Public Library’s electronic database, Financial Post (FP) Advisor.
These two US publications “showing companies which have been reorganized, merged, liquidated or dissolved and companies that have changed their names or forfeited their charters”, include many Canadian companies. The first edition was published in 1926 but the actual dates of incorporation and dissolution precede 1926. The Toronto Reference Library has volumes 1-4; 5/6-9; 13-14. The indices which are consolidated periodically ensure complete coverage of Toronto Reference Library’s holdings.
Marvyn Scudder Manual of Extinct or Obsolete Companies. New York: Marvyn Scudder Manual of Extinct or Obsolete Companies, Inc., 1926-1934. 332.632 R57 v. 1-4
Robert D. Fisher Manual of Valuable & Worthless Securities. New York: R. M. Smythe, 1938- 1975. v. 5/6-9; 13-14.
Northern Miner Press. Canadian Mines Handbook. Toronto: Northern Miner Press, Ltd., 1934- 2004 338.205 C122 Annual.
Northern Miner Press. Canadian Mines Register of Dormant and Defunct Companies. Toronto: Northern Miner Press Ltd., 1960. 338.2065 N59 There are two supplements to this publication: 1st and 2nd. 1966/1971 and 3rd, 1976. This register notes the changes to Canadian public corporations with details of name and incorporation changes, amalgamations, takeovers and acquisitions. It also includes companies in receivership, being wound up, dissolved, or companies whose charters have been cancelled or struck off provincial registers. It often provides the name of the transfer agent and authorized capital. The publisher has consulted the company records of the nineteenth century in preparing this register. The register may be used in conjunction with the handbook.
Business History
Use the Library’s website to locate other directories of defunct companies. The following sample search words may be used:
industries Canada history bibliography corporations Canada directories corporations Canada history – Bibliography companies Canada history Canada commerce history
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Canada economic conditions business history Canada Ontario commerce [name of industry] history Canada
Suggested titles:
Baskerville, Peter A., ed. and University of Victoria (BC). Public History Group. Canadian Papers in Business History. Victoria, BC: Public History Group, University of Victoria, 1989. v.1, 2. 380.10971 C126
Bliss, Michael. Northern Enterprise: Five Centuries of Canadian Business. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987. 380.10971 B47.2 This book traces the history of business in Canada, from the earliest Atlantic fishermen in the 1480s to the free trade accord with the United States in the 1980s.
Craven, Paul, Anne Forrest, and Tom Traves. Canadian Company Histories: A Checklist. Rev. ed. Downsview, ON: York University, Social Science Division, 1978. 338.74097 C67 This checklist of 599 companies consists of titles of books, articles and pamphlets and location of the material.
Fischer, Lewis R. and Eric William Sager, eds. The Enterprising Canadians: Entrepreneurs and Economic Development in Eastern Canada, 1820-1914: Proceedings of the Second Conference of the Atlantic Canada Shipping Project, March 30-April 1, 1978. St. John's, NF: Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1979. 338.04097 E56
Geahigan, Priscilla C. U.S. and Canadian Businesses, 1955 to 1987: A Bibliography. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988. 016.33874 G24
Gordon, Manuel. Researching Canadian Corporations. Toronto: New Hogtown Press, 1977. 338.74097 G59
Grant, Tim. Canadian Company Histories. Toronto: Gale Canada, 1996. 338.74097 C123 This book provides thumbnail sketches of more than 75 of Canada’s major companies, as they existed at the time of publication. Each company’s entry includes suggestions for further reading.
Hamelin, Jean and Yves Roby. Histoire Économique du Québec, 1851-1896. Montreal: Fides, 1971. 330.9714 H12 This economic history covers the beginnings of many companies during a period of industrialization in Quebec.
Macmillan, David S. Canadian Business History: Selected Studies, 1497-1971. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972. 380.0971 M11 This collection includes the early development of individual companies including the Newfoundland fisheries of the fifteenth century.
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Myers, Gustavus. A History of Canadian Wealth. First Canadian ed. With an introduction by Stanley Ryerson. Toronto: J. Lewis & Samuel, 1972. 335.30971 M91 1972 First published in Chicago, in 1914, this thoroughly documented investigation delves into the origins of Canada’s centralized wealth, beginning with the fur trade and the development of the railroads.
Naylor, R. T. The History of Canadian Business, 1867-1914. Rev. ed. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1997. 380.0971 N138 1997 The first edition was published in 1975 as a two-volume set. Businesses and industries are mentioned within the context of Canadian political history. Banks and financial institutions are in the first volume, while industries and the index are in the second.
Researching Older Canadian Companies at the Metropolitan Toronto Library. Toronto: Metropolitan Toronto Library Board, Reference Division, Business Department, 1984. 016.33874 M26
Sweeny, Robert, Richard Rice, and Brian J. Young. A Guide to the History and Records of Selected Montreal Businesses Before 1946 = Guide Pour L’étude D'entreprises Montréalaises et Leurs Archives Avant 1947. Montreal: Montreal Business History Project, 1978. 016.3387 S84 C. This bilingual inventory includes annual reports, minutes, stock records, ledgers, legal records, personnel records, investments. Descriptions are in English or French. There is an index of companies, personal names and subjects. It provides an inventory of pre-1947 business records and short histories of 127 firms connected with Montreal.
Taylor, M. Brook and Doug Owram. Canadian History: a Reader’s Guide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994. v. 1, 2. 016.971 C126 This two-volume set details Canadian history from its earliest days, through Confederation, and on. Chapters have been written by recognized authorities in the field of Canadian history, economics, politics and government. Each chapter provides annotated entries to the major resources in their field.
Taylor, Graham D. and Peter A. Baskerville. A Concise History of Business in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994. 380.10971 T138 This is a chronicle of business in Canada from early commercial traditions prior to 1663 to the mid-1990’s.
Tulchinsky, Gerald J. J. The River Barons: Montreal Businessmen and the Growth of Industry and Transportation, 1837-53. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977. 338.09714 T78