History at a glance

Founded: 1845

First president: George Percival Ridout

Founding Mission: to “promote trade and commerce” and “foster economic and social welfare of Toronto”

A historian’s view

TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY: THE STORY OF TORONTO’S BOARD OF TRADE, G. H. Stanford (University of Toronto Press, 1974)

An Act incorporating the Board of Trade of the City of Toronto was passed by the legislature of Canada on 10 February 1845.

George Percival Ridout was the first President, an office he held until 1852 when he was elected to the legislature.

In its Act of Incorporation, the Board's principal objectives were:

To promote and/or support such measures as, upon due consideration, are deemed calculated to advance and render prosperous the lawful trade and commerce and to foster the economic and social welfare of the City of Toronto...

To advance in all lawful ways the commercial interests of the members of the Corporation generally and to secure the advantages to be obtained by mutual co-operation.
It was provided that... each and every person carrying on trade and commerce of any kind, or being a Cashier, Manager or Director of any Financial Institution, Railway or Insurance Company, shall be eligible to become a member of the said Corporation.
Records of proceedings in the earliest days are few and the new body did not at first appear to make much headway or public impression... By 1856 it had only acquired 60 members...The bulk of the work was left to a few energetic members but those few proved dedicated and capable.

Until well into the 1860s most members of The Board were traders, predominantly wholesalers. Few were native-born Canadians, the majority having come to the new land to make their fortunes, and trade was the way to wealth. ...They were concerned with maintaining the greatest possible freedom of trade: the Reciprocity Treaty with the United States was supported, much effort was expended in attempts to lower tariff barriers and a recurrent theme was the establishment of better means of transport and the elimination of restraints on the use of navigable waters.