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Fonds - British Columbia Packers Limited fonds
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British Columbia Packers Limited fonds

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Date(s)

  • 1890-2000 (Creation)
    Creator
    British Columbia Packers

Physical description area

Physical description

10 m of multiple media

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Name of creator

British Columbia Packers

Biographical history

British Columbia Packers Limited was formed in 1928, following a series of amalgamations with predecessor companies, and rapidly evolved into a prominent fish processing company. Due to a policy of product diversification, British Columbia Packers Limited operated fishing stations, canneries, fresh fish branches, fish-curing establishments, cold storage plants, reduction plants and shipyards. The company also had a half interest in a whaling station and operated several general stores. After the Second World War, British Columbia Packers Limited rapidly began to expand its business interests outside of British Columbia. It acquired sales offices and production facilities in the United States (Certi-Fresh Foods, Los Angeles), fishing operations in Peru, and by the 1960s it had expanded to the east coast of Canada. At the peak of its operations, British Columbia Packers Limited acquired international success with markets for canned seafood ("Clover Leaf"); fresh, frozen and prepared fish products ("Rupert Brand" and "Certi-Fresh"); and for the products of reduction plants. In 1968, British Columbia Packers moved its head office from Vancouver to its final destination on Moncton Street in Steveston (Imperial Plant site.) The early 1980s introduced a period of major change and restructuring in the fishing industry as a whole, a factor which directly impacted the British Columbia Packers Limited. By 1997, its operations had dissolved and its successor company, BCPL Limited, owned by George Weston Limited, undertook the disposition of British Columbia Packers real property and other assets.

Custodial history

Scope and content

The fonds consists of material documenting aspects of the operation, maintenance, and administration of British Columbia Packers Limited and its predecessor and subsidiary companies, primarily in British Columbia, but also in other Canadian locations, in the United Stated, and in other countries. It includes trademark administration records and associated product labels; public and corporate relations materials comprising accumulations and collections of photographs and textual material; photographic and textual records used to document operations for organizational and legal accountablity; employee and community relations material, including photographs of workplaces and social events; and advertising and marketing material, including samples of product packaging. The records have been arranged into the following series: 1. Operations -- Queensborough Shipyard; 2. Operations -- Mill Bay Cannery; 3. Operations -- Terra Nova Cannery; 4. Operations -- Imperial Cannery/Plant; 5. Operations -- Alert Bay Cannery; 6. Operations -- Anglo-American Cannery; 7. Operations -- Western Canada Whaling; 8. Operations -- Victoria Cold Storage and Terminal Warehouse Company Limited; 9. Head Office -- Trademark Administration; 10. Head Office -- Merchandising; 11. Head Office -- Public, Industrial and Corporate Relations; 12. Operations -- Oyster Harbour; 13. Head Office -- Human Resources and Community Relations; 14. Head Office -- Executive and Legal Records; 15. Head Office -- Property Administration and Development; 16. Head Office -- Insurance; 17. Head Office -- Operational oversight and planning; 18. Operations -- Wadhams Cannery; 19. Head Office - Production Records; 20. British Columbia Packers Art Collection.

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  • Alpha-numeric designations: BCAUL control number: CRICH-63

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