Grain Transshipment at the Lakehead

Between 1883 and 1920, the side-by-side settlements of Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario – together known as the Lakehead, and since 1970 as Thunder Bay – handled virtually all the grain exported from the west. In the early 20^th century, the Lakehead was one of North America’s major centres for the storage, processing, and shipping of prairie grain destined for foreign markets, and therefore played a central role in facilitating Canada’s leadership in the international grain trade. The industry’s dramatic growth at the Lakehead reflects the great expansion of agricultural development on the prairies during the first decades of the century and symbolizes the importance of grain in the development of Canada.

In 1883, construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) between Winnipeg and Fort William, Ontario, at the head of Lake Superior, was completed. This created a convenient, all-Canadian shipping route for grain from the prairies to points east, via the Great Lakes. The first western terminal elevator was constructed by the CPR in Port Arthur in time for the 1884 harvest. “Terminal elevators” were massive grain elevators that stored, processed, and then shipped grain farther east. Within a year, there was a second terminal in Fort William, with a one million bushel capacity. Over the next 25 years, additional terminals were constructed, first by the CPR and then by the Canadian Northern Railway and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway when their rail lines reached the Lakehead, as well as by Canadian and American elevator companies.

Wheat prices soared after 1915. Three railways were bringing grain to the Lakehead, and the need for increased grain-handling facilities increased exponentially. In the 1910s and 1920s, many more terminals were constructed at the Lakehead by private industry and farmer-run grain co-operatives. The former Fort William Elevator 10 was constructed in 1913. In 1915, there were 25 terminal elevators at the Lakehead, by 1921, there were around 30, and by 1929 the terminals at the Lakehead were capable of storing almost 88.5 million bushels of grain. By this point, the largest elevator terminal in the world had been constructed (Saskatchewan Pool No.7, which had a 7 million bushel capacity) and the Lakehead was among the largest grain-storage centres in North America.

This dramatic growth at the Lakehead reflects the great expansion of agricultural development into the prairies, and symbolizes the important role that grain has played in the economic development of Canada. By 1929, the major elevator infrastructure was largely in place, though improvements and expansion continued during and after the Second World War. While in more recent decades west-coast shipping has grown and a number of Thunder Bay terminal elevators have closed, there are still seven functional elevators remaining at the port that reflect the important role this place has played in Canada’s history.