List of defunct Canadian companies
This is a list of defunct Canadian companies.
Defunct companies, including acquired and merged ones
Note: many of these companies are still operating under the same name; they are just owned by others.- Abitibi Power and Paper Company - now forms part of Abitibi-Consolidated
- Agricore - merged with United Grain Growers Ltd. to form Agricore United
- Aikenhead's Hardware - hardware store, acquired by Home Depot
- AMC Theatres Canada - some locations acquired by Cineplex Entertainment, others closed
- Bricklin Automobile
- Bytown and Prescott Railway - acquired by Canadian Pacific Railway
- C-Mac Industries - acquired by Solectron
- Carling O'Keefe - brewery, acquired by Molson
- Chapters- acquired by Indigo Books and Music
- Cineplex Odeon - acquired by Loews Theatres
- Consumers Distributing - catalogue retail store chain
- CTV - acquired by Bell Globemedia; formerly Baton Broadcasting, et al
- Diemaco - firearm and defense company; acquired by Colt's Manufacturing Company
- Dow Breweries
- Dylex - acquired by Hardof Wolf Group
- E. B. Eddy Company - acquired by Domtar
- Franklins - grocery store chain in Southern Ontario
- Future Shop - acquired by Best Buy
- Honest Ed's - a discount retail store
- Jetsgo
- Job Brothers & Co., Limited
- John Inglis and Company - kitchen appliance maker
- McLaughlin Motor Car Co. - merged with General Motors
- Micron
- Nova Scotia Light and Power Company, Limited - acquired by the Province of Nova Scotia; assets leased to * Nova Scotia Power Corporation
- Omnilogic Systems group - acquired by PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Ontario Malleable Iron Company - iron foundry
- PetroKazakhstan - acquired by China National Petroleum Corporation
- Polymer Corporation - sold to NOVA Corp and then Bayer AG
- Radio Shack - electronics store
- Seagram - spirits and wine
- Target Canada - closed because of a $2.1 billion loss for Target Corporation
- Terra Transport
- Towers Department Stores - department store chain; acquired by Zellers
- Union Bank of Halifax - now part of the Royal Bank of Canada
- United Grain Growers Ltd. - merged with Agricore to form Agricore United
- Valdi - discount grocery store chain
- Vidéotron - cable; now owned by Quebecor
- White Rose Home and Garden Centre
- Woodward's - acquired by Hudson's Bay Company
- Woolco - department store chain; acquired by Wal-Mart Canada
- Zellers - department store chain; acquired by now defunct chain Target Canada
Aerospace
- Avro Canada - airplane manufacturer, maker of the Avro Arrow
- Canadair - acquired by Bombardier
- de Havilland Canada - acquired by Boeing and a few years later acquired by Bombardier
- Spar Aerospace - split up and acquired by MacDonald Dettwiler, L-3 Communications and Bombardier
Airlines
- Air Atlantic
- Air BC - merged with Air Canada Jazz
- Air Dawson
- Air Ontario - merged with Air Canada Jazz
- AllCanada Express
- Austin Airways - acquired by Air Ontario
- Canada 3000 - folded, discount airline
- Canadian Airlines - acquired by Air Canada
- Canadian Pacific Airlines - acquired by Canadian Airlines
- Canadian Regional Airlines - merged with Air Canada Jazz
- Eastern Provincial Airways - acquired by Canadian Pacific Airlines
- Globemaster Air Cargo
- Great Lakes Airlines - acquired by Air Ontario
- Greyhound Air
- Harmony Airways
- Inter-Canadien
- Jetsgo
- Lamb Air
- Maestro
- Nationair
- Nolisair
- NorOntair
- North Canada Air - acquired by Time Air
- Pacific Western Airlines
- Peace Air
- Quebecair Express
- Queen Charlotte Airlines - acquired by Pacific Western Airlines
- QuikAir
- Roots Air
- Royal Aviation - acquired by Canada 3000
- Sonicblue Airways
- Southern Frontier Airlines - acquired by Time Air
- Time Air - acquired by Air Canada Jazz
- Trans-Provincial Airlines - acquired by Harbour Air
- Triton Airlines
- Val Air
- Vision Airways Corporation
- Vistajet
- WardAir - acquired by Canadian Airlines
- Winnport
- World-Wide Airways
- Zip - merged with Air Canada
- Zoom Airlines
Banking, finance and insurance
- Bank of America Canada - subsidiary of the United States-based bank chain Bank of America
- Bank of British Columbia - acquired by Canadian Commercial Bank
- Bank of British Columbia - acquired by HSBC Bank Canada
- Bank of British North America - acquired by Bank of Montreal
- Bank of Hamilton - acquired by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- Bank of New Brunswick - acquired by Bank of Nova Scotia
- Bank of Upper Canada
- Canada Trust - acquired by Toronto-Dominion Bank
- Canadian Commercial Bank
- City Bank
- Consolidated Bank of Canada
- Continental Bank of Canada - acquired by Lloyds Bank of Canada
- Crown Life - acquired by London LIfe
- Home Bank of Canada - failed in 1923
- Lloyds Bank of Canada - acquired by HSBC Bank Canada
- Maritime Life - acquired by Manulife Financial
- Royal Trust - acquired by Royal Bank of Canada
Computer hardware and software
- AliasWavefront - developers of industry leading Maya 3D software; in 2006 it was bought out by Autodesk Inc.
- ATI Technologies - bought out by AMD
- Ferranti-Packard - early mainframe systems
- HCR Corporation – early Unix company, acquired by Santa Cruz Operation, later closed
- I. P. Sharp Associates - time share company
- Imanet - international trade software
- Watcom International Corporation - acquired by Sybase
Consumer retail, including grocery
- Aeropostale Canada - subsidiary of the United States-based retailer Aeropostale, closed all 41 stores in Canada in 2016
- A&A Records - founded in Toronto at the end of WWII, it was the dominant record chain store in Canada until being superseded by Sam the Record Man in the 1960s; it became defunct in 1993
- A&B Sound - home electronics retailer based in Richmond, BC; founded in 1959, it had expanded as far as Winnipeg, Manitoba by 2000, but its subsequent decline saw the company go bankrupt by 2008
- Bargain Harold's - discount store chain; defunct sometime in the early 1990s
- Bata Shoes - shoe retailer and manufacturer
- Beaver Lumber - hardware/lumber store chain; acquired by Home Hardware
- Big Lots Canada
- Braemars - clothing store chain
- Compucentre/CompuSmart - Computer and electronics store, started in 1976 by Harry Hart, chairman and CEO of HartCo LP.
- Dalmy's - clothing store
- Dominion - grocery store chain
- Bi-Way - discount store chain
- Eaton's - bankrupt, assets acquired by Sears Canada
- Express - subsidiary of the United States-based clothing retailer Express, closed all 17 stores in Canada in 2017
- Food City - grocery store chain
- Granada TV Rental- electronic consumer goods retail rental outlets
- Hans Christian Andersons - toy store chain
- Hard Rock Cafe -all Canadian Cafe locations closed by 2017, but Hard Rock Casino still exist in Coquitlam, BC, Vancouver, BC, and a new location is set to open in Ottawa in 2021
- HMV Canada - entertainment media chain owned by Hilco; originally a subsidiary of England-based retailer HMV; closed all stores in April 2017, the majority of locations became Sunrise Records
- Kmart Canada - subsidiary of US chain, some assets acquired by Zellers
- Knob Hill Farms - grocery store chain
- Kresge - discount store chain
- Lumberland Building Materials
- LW Stores - discount store chain; acquired by Big Lots in 2010 and closed all stores in 2014
- Marks & Spencer - major British retailer; had operated in Canada since 1973; closed all Canadian operations by 1999
- Miracle Food Mart - grocery store chain
- Morgan's - department store chain
- Pascal - bankrupt in 1991 - 1994 - 2008
- RadioShack Canada - renamed The Source by Circuit City in 2005
- Revelstoke Home Centres Ltd.
- Rumpus - toy store
- Sam The Record Man - record/entertainment media stores
- Sam's Club Canada - warehouse store chain and the subsidiary of Walmart Canada; closed in 2009
- Sears Canada - department store chain and the Canadian subsidiary of the American-based Sears, all stores closed in January 2018
- Simpsons - department store chain
- Steinberg's - grocery store chain
- Target Canada - Canadian subsidiary of the American-based department store chain Target Corporation, closed all stores in 2015
- Thrifty's - denim/clothing store
- Titan Warehouse - membership store chain
- Towers - department store chain
- Toy City - toy store chain
- Tops and Toys - toy store chain
- Woodward's - department store chain
- Zellers - discount department store; store properties bought out by Target Corporation and most converted into Target Canada stores
Food and beverage
- Mitchell's Gourmet Foods - acquired by Maple Leaf Foods
- Mother's Pizza
Mining and energy
- Anderson Exploration - acquired by Devon Energy
- Bre-X - gold mining company, collapsed in fraud
- Canadian Hunter Exploration
- Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation
- Eldorado Resources - uranium mining, merged with Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation to form Cameco
- Gulf Canada Resources - acquired by Conoco
- Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. - mining
- Kerr Addison Mines Ltd - gold and uranium mining, acquired by Noranda
- Lightstream Resources Ltd. - oil and gas
- Noranda - mining, merged with Falconbridge Ltd.
- Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation - uranium mining, merged with Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited to form Cameco
- Teck Cominco - mining
- Westcoast Energy - acquired by Duke Energy
Railways, commuter rail and steamship companies
- Algoma Central and Hudson Bay Railway
- Algoma Central Railway - acquired by Canadian National Railways
- BC Rail - now part of CN
- Belt Line Railway - acquired by CN
- Canada Atlantic Railway
- Canada Eastern Railway
- Canada Southern Railway
- Canadian Government Railways
- Canadian Northern Pacific Railway
- Canadian Northern Railway
- Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad
- Columbia and Kootenay Railway
- Devco Railway
- Dominion Atlantic Railway
- European and North American Railway
- Grand River Railway - acquired by Canadian Pacific
- Grand Trunk Pacific Railway - acquired by CN
- Great Western Railway
- Halifax and Southwestern Railway
- Huntsville and Lake of Bays Transportation Company - steamship and railway
- Intercolonial Railway of Canada
- International Railway
- Kaslo and Slocan Railway
- Kettle Valley Railway
- Metropolitan Street Railway of Toronto
- Midland Railway of Canada
- Nakusp and Slocan Railway
- National Transcontinental Railway
- Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway
- New Brunswick Railway
- Newfoundland Railway
- Northern Alberta Railways
- Northern Railway of Canada
- Nosbonsing and Nipissing Railway
- Nova Scotia Railway
- Ontario and Quebec Railway
- Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway
- Parry Sound Colonization Railway
- Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway
- Prince Edward Island Railway
- Sydney and Louisburg Railway
- Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway
- Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company
- Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company
- Toronto and York Radial Railway
- Toronto Suburban Railway
Telecommunications companies
- Nortel - established in 1895; in 2000 accounted for more than a third of the total valuation of all the companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange