Relentless Change

"Business history has been neglected in Canada despite the fact that business is crucial to maintaining the nation’s high standard of living. Some may assume that business is no different in Canada than it is in the United States. History of Canadian Business sets out to disprove this assumption and to provide a first-rate textbook for students and instructors working in business history.Joe Martin begins his analysis in the mid-nineteenth century with a description of Canada’s place in the world, an examination of the major changes that occurred over the next 150 years, and the ‘creative-destructive’ forces that shaped Canadian capitalism. He focuses on such subjects as economic wealth, demographics, and trade in light of important geographic and political changes. Martin goes on to look at the evolution of the large corporation in Canada over a one hundred year period from 1905 to 2005. He pays careful attention to the differences between the financial and non-financial sectors and their respective roles in transforming the economyA useful tool for students, History of Canadian Business includes overviews and illustrative cases for each of its three parts. All of these cases look at the role of government and the ways in which it interacts with business. Canada’s external relations, especially with the United Kingdom and the United States, and internal dynamics, particularly those between Montreal and Toronto, are also examined. This is a thorough and generously supplemented textbook that looks at Canadian business and its place on the world stage."

Joe Martin is director of the Canadian Business History program, adjunct professor of Business Strategy, and Executive in Residence at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.