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Mining is one of Canada’s primary industries and involves the extraction, refining, and/or processing of economically valuable rocks and minerals. Mineral products (including gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc,  nickel) are critical to modern industrial society. Although mining has been key to Canadian settlement and development, in recent decades the industry has also been criticized for its environmental and social impacts. Canada remains one of the world’s leading mining countries and has become a centre of global mining finance and expertise.

The United Farm Women of Alberta (UFWA) was the first provincial organization of farm women in Alberta. Originally an auxiliary of the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), the UFWA became a separate organization in 1916. The organization became the Farm Women’s Union of Alberta (FWUA) in 1949 and the Women of Unifarm in 1970. The organization dissolved in 2000.

De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited, with head offices in Toronto, Ontario, is an aircraft manufacturer incorporated in 1928. It has designed and built iconic Canadian bush planes such as the Beaver, the Otter and the Twin Otter, as well as transport and commuter aircraft. Owned by Longview Aviation Capital, de Havilland currently manufactures the Dash 8 commuter plane.

BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion) is a mobile communications company. Founded in 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin in Waterloo, Ontario, the company released its first device — a pager capable of email — in 1999. Following the release of its first smartphone in 2002, BlackBerrys quickly became must-have pieces of technology, first among business people and later the general public. However, in the early 2010s they struggled to keep pace with the competitive smartphone market. In 2016, the company announced it would outsource all hardware production to other companies, instead focusing on software development. Today, BlackBerry is credited with putting Waterloo on the map as an innovation hub. The business trades under the ticker BB on the Toronto Stock Exchange and BBRY on NASDAQ.

Founded in 1892, the Toronto Star (originally the Evening Star and later the Toronto Daily Star) grew under the direction of Joseph E. Atkinson, who became editor and manager of the newspaper in 1899. The newspaper was officially named the Toronto Star in 1971. As of April 2015, the Toronto Star is Canada’s largest daily newspaper.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional team in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The franchise dates back to the formation of the Hamilton Football Club (the Tigers) in November 1869. The Tigers and another Hamilton football team, the Wildcats, amalgamated as the Tiger-Cats for the 1950 season and played in the Inter-provincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU). The IRFU became the Eastern Conference of the CFL in 1960. Since the early 20th century, the Tigers and Tiger-Cats have been associated with a tough, physical brand of football that reflects the blue-collar roots of Hamilton as an industrial city. The team’s iconic cheer, “Oskie Wee Wee, Oskie Waa Waa, Holy Mackinaw, Tigers… Eat ’em Raw!” is well known throughout Canada and dates back to the early 20th century. The Tiger-Cats have won the Grey Cup 13 times, including five times as the Tigers.

Newcombe Piano Co., Ltd. was founded in Toronto by Octavius Newcombe in 1878. The quality of Newcombe pianos were recognized at several international exhibitions. Following a factory fire in 1926, the Newcombe name was purchased by the Montreal piano retailer and manufacturer Willis & Company Ltd.

Employment Insurance (formerly Unemployment Insurance) is a government program that provides temporary benefit payments during a period of unemployment. The Employment Insurance (EI) program also provides illness, parental and caregiving benefits for persons who are away from work due to health and family-related reasons. EI is financed by premiums paid by employers and employees. The program is overseen by the Canada Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC). In July 2021, approximately 1.5 million Canadians received EI benefits.

The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) was founded in 1909. This organization advocated for rural co-operatives and for the needs and interests of farmers in Alberta (see Co-Operative Movement). The UFA became involved in politics and was provincially elected from 1921 to 1935. By 1939, the UFA ended its political activities, but it continued to support provincial farmers.

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is an earnings-related public pension plan. The CPP makes a monthly payment to Canadians and their families to partially replace their income after retirement, disability or death. Working Canadians make regular contributions to the CPP in order to be eligible. The CPP covers all Canadian workers except those in Quebec who are covered by the parallel Quebec Pension Plan (QPP). The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) manages CPP assets, making it one of the largest pension fund managers in the world. As of 31 March 2021, CPPIB ended its 2021 fiscal year with net assets of 497.2 billion.

George Weston Limited is one of North America’s largest processors and distributors of food. The company operates three subsidiaries: Loblaw Companies Limited, a grocery, drugstore and general retailer; Weston Foods, a baking company; and Choice Properties, a real estate investment trust. George Weston Ltd. owns a variety of brands and retail banners. Loblaw brands include No Name, President’s Choice, Life Brand and Joe Fresh. Loblaw stores include Loblaws, Zehrs, Your Independent Grocer, Provigo, Atlantic Superstore, Fortinos, Dominion, Independent City Market, Valu-mart, ARZ Bakery, Wholesale Club, T&T Supermarket, Real Canadian Liquorstore, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Maxi, Extra Foods and Shoppers Drug Mart. In 2020, George Weston Ltd. registered $54.705 billion in revenue and $919 million in profit and held assets valued at $48.075 billion. George Weston Ltd. Is the country’s largest private-sector employer, with over 200,000 full- and part-time employees. It is a public company headquartered in Toronto and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WN.

The G7, or Group of Seven, is an international group comprising the governments of the world’s largest economies: Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. It was founded as the G6 in 1975 and became the G7 with the addition of Canada in 1976. The Group is an informal bloc; it has no treaty or constitution and no permanent offices, staff or secretariat. The leaders of the member states meet at annual summits to discuss issues of mutual concern and to coordinate actions to address them. The meeting location and the organization’s presidency rotates among the members. The European Union is also a non-enumerated member, though it never assumes the rotating presidency.

The Canadian Women's Press Club (CWPC) was founded in June 1904 in a Canadian Pacific Railway Pullman car, aboard which 16 women (half anglophone, half francophone) travelled to the St. Louis World's Fair. All but one were working journalists who covered the event. The CWPC offered female journalists professional support and development in its mission to “maintain and improve the status of journalism as a profession for women.”

Alcan Incorporated was a major Canadian aluminum mining and manufacturing corporation. From the early 1990s to the early 2000s, it was the second-largest aluminum producer in the world.The company was originally founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company Limited, located in Shawinigan, Québec. It was established as the Canadian subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), one of the founders of which invented the process for extracting aluminum from bauxite. Northern Aluminum was renamed the Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and in 1928, it formally detached from Alcoa. In 1966, it was again renamed, this time as Alcan Aluminum Limited (becoming Alcan Incorporated in 2001). In 2007, Alcan was purchased by the British-Australian multinational corporation Rio Tinto for $38 billion. Today, Rio Tinto continues to operate several smelters in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Québec, as well as in Kitimat, British Columbia.

Companies owned by New Brunswick’s Irving family dominate the province’s natural resource industries, as well as its media, engineering and construction industries. The first Irving business was a sawmill purchased in 1881. The family now owns many companies that supply each other from different steps in the chain of production. These companies largely fall under four umbrellas: J.D. Irving Limited (whose many segments include forestry, food, construction and transportation), Brunswick News (newspapers), Irving Oil (oil refining and marketing) and Ocean Capital Holdings (real estate, radio, construction and materials). The Irving family owns Canada’s largest oil refinery, is one of the five largest landowners in North America, and employs 1 in 12 people in New Brunswick. It is one of the wealthiest families in Canada.

Throughout its history, Canada has taken a series of steps to develop from a British colony into an independent nation. Both the First and Second World War were turning points; Canada’s military sacrifices gave it the strength and confidence to demand its own voice on the world stage. In the postwar era, Canada maintained its role in both Western and global alliances. (See NATO; NORAD; GATT.) However, economics have shaped Canadian diplomacy to a remarkable extent. Because of the United States’ singular importance to Canadian security and trade, relations with the US have dominated Canada’s foreign policy since Confederation.

Unions, see CRAFT UNIONISM; INDUSTRIAL UNIONISM; LABOUR ORGANIZATION; LABOUR RELATIONS; REVOLUTIONARY INDUSTRIAL UNIONISM; UNION CENTRALS, DISTRICT AND REGIONAL; UNION CENTRALS, NATIONAL; UNION CENTRALS, QUÉBEC; UNION DES

Montreal and Lachine Railroad began operations 19 November 1847 between Bonaventure Station in Montréal and the St Lawrence River. Built to bypass the LACHINE rapids, it was 12 km long.

The Halibut Treaty of 1923 (formally the Convention for the Preservation of Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean) was an agreement between Canada and the United States on fishing rights in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first environmental treaty aimed at conserving an ocean fish stock. It was also the first treaty independently negotiated and signed by the Canadian government; one of several landmark events that transitioned Canada into an autonomous sovereign state. It also indicated a shift in Canada’s economic focus from Britain to the US during the 1920s, when the US passed Britain as Canada’s largest trading partner. The treaty created the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which continues in its role today.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadians have worked from home. This shift to remote work has aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus by reducing contact between people.

To gauge the impact of the pandemic on remote work at Canadian businesses, Statistics Canada conducted a nationwide survey in 2020. The graphs below show some of its findings. The first graph shows the percentage of businesses, in each province and the three territories, that had more than half of their workforce working remotely a) before the pandemic and b) on 29 May 2020, during the pandemic. The second graph shows the percentage of businesses which expected that more than half their workforce would continue to work remotely after COVID-19.