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Top 500 Canadian Companies (c1977-78)

Although this is the seventh Canadian Business list of "the biggest, the richest, the best-selling and the most profitable corporations in the country", it is their first one ranking the Top 500 Canadian companies. The information was compiled by David and Pamela Hughes and is found on p.53 of the July issue of Canadian Business, 1979 (Vol.52, No.7). Only a summary is presented here and the original table includes other data: Sales; Assets; Liabilities, Current Ratio; Net Income % Return on Equity.
The "Top 500" table actually stops at 440. This is because there is a separate listing for: The Top 25 Financial Corporations; The Top 15 Insurance Companies and the 20 Top Crown Corporations. Those 60 firms are listed at the bottom of this table, providing the Top 500. The print original is available in the C.B. "Bud" Johnston Library at the University of Western Ontario. Additional tables and rankings relating to Canadian companies are found on the Johnston Library site and are provided for the convenience of historical researchers.

Rank   Company Rank   Company
1978 1977   1978 1977  
1 1 General Motors of Canada 251 185 Nestle (Canada)
2 2 Ford Motor Co. of Canada 252 172 GTE Automatic Electric (Canada)
3 4 Canadian Pacific 253 190 Hayes-Dana
4 3 Imperial Oil 254 - Kellogg Salada Canada
5 - George Weston 255 219 Consumers Glass
6 6 Alcan Aluminium 256 257 Drummond McCall
7 5 Bell Canada 257 209 Maritime Telegraph & Telephone
8 8 Massey-Ferguson 258 195 Asbestos Corp.
9 7 Chrysler Canada 259 190 Christie, Brown and Co.
10 9 Shell Canada 260 293 Turbo Resources
11 10 The Seagram Co. 261 205 Erco Industries
12 11 Gulf Canada 262 217 Brooke Bond Foods
13 - Simpsons-Sears 263 174 Aquitaine Co. of Canada
14 12 Inco 264 - Marchands Rona
15 - Dominion Stores 265 - Qualico Developments
16 14 TransCanada PipeLines 266 236 Wardair International
17 - Provigo 267 229 Famous Players
18 15 MacMillan Bloedel 268 254 K-Tel International
19 - Canada Safeway 269 242 Reynolds Aluminum Co. of Canada
20 - Steinberg Inc. 270 - Peoples Department Stores
21 21 Texaco Canada 271 213 Cyprus Anvil Mining
22 - Hudson's Bay 272 206 The Becker Milk Co.
23 13 Canada Packers 273 202 Babcock & Wilcox Canada
24 17 The Steel Co. of Canada 274 208 The Borden Co.
25 18 Noranda Mines 275 237 British Metal Corp. (Canada)
26 19 Moore Corp. 276 200 Tahsis
27 20 Northern Telecom 277 247 Wajax
28 - International Thomson Organisation 278 - Union Electric Supply
29 - The Oshawa Group 279 - GTE Sylvania Canada
30 - M. Loeb 280 214 Lawson & Jones
31 - F.W. Woolworth 281 215 Inglis
32 24 Abitibi Paper 282 245 Falconbridge Copper
33 - Canada Development Corp. 283 250 Pepsi-Cola Canada
34 26 Domtar 284 212 Pilkington Glass Industries
35 - Kelly, Douglas and Co. 285 218 Int'l Minerals & Chemical Corp. (Canada)
36 25 Genstar 286 231 Kelsey-Hayes Canada
37 27 IBM Canada 287 222 Ronalds-Federated
38 35 Dominion Foundries and Steel 288 241 Rolland Paper
39 22 Canadian General Electric 289 225 Campbell Soup
40 36 Consolidated-Bathurst 290 308 Magna International
41 48 Dominion Bridge 291 263 Asamera Oil
42 29 Alberta and Southern Gas 292 255 British Steel Corp. (Canada)
43 34 International Harvester Co. of Canada 293 310 Harlequin Enterprises
44 - Ensite 294 258 General Mills Canada
45 37 Mitsubishi Canada 295 266 Borg-Warner (Canada)
46 35 Burns Foods 296 239 Carnation
47 40 Cominco 297 269 BASF Canada
48 39 Canadian International Paper 298 329 Canpotex
49 42 Algoma Steel 299 238 The New Brunswick Telephone Co.
50 38 Westcoast Transmission 300 227 UAP
51 41 BP Canada 301 301 Estee Lauder Cosmetics
52 - John Labatt 302 235 The Quaker Oats Co. of Canada
53 - The Molson Companies 303 - Canadian Electrolytic Zinc
54 - Canadian Tire 304 - C. Itoh & Co. (Canada)
55 - Woodward Stores 305 306 Whonnock Industries
56 45 Norcen Energy Resources 306 228 Canadian Canners
57 - Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts 307 274 Clark Equipment of Canada
58 44 Canadian Industries Ltd. 308 224 Canadian Admiral
59 - Simpsons 309 259 Maislin Industries
60 - Imasco 310 - Canadian Liquid Air
61 46 Consumer's Gas 311 347 Intermetco
62 62 British Columbia Forest Products 312 252 Scott Paper
63 47 Husky Oil 313 282 Doman Industries
64 - Kmart Canada 314 - Les Pharmacies universelles
65 43 Amoco Canada Petroleum 315 234 Combustion Engineering-Superheater
66 52 Mobil Oil Canada 316 262 Control Data Canada
67 79 Total Petroleum (North America) 317 240 Greyhound Lines of Canada
68 54 Cargill Grain 318 - Bendix Automotive of Canada
69 55 Du Pont of Canada 319 232 Federal Pioneer
70 - Zeller's 320 - Bramalea
71 49 Anglo-Canadian Telephone 321 267 Ciba-Geigy Canada
72 57 Dome Petroleum 322 264 Scott's Restaurants
73 51 Maple Leaf Mills 323 223 Phillips Cables
74 - Canadian Bechtel 324 243 Blackwood Hodge (Canada)
75 56 Petrofina Canada 325 287 West Fraser Timber
76 63 Rio Algom 326 - Abacus Cities
77 59 Dominion Textile 327 - Dominion Construction
78 - Union Gas 328 289 F.W. Fearman
79 92 Canadian Utilities 329 - Mack Canada
80 58 British Columbia Telephone 330 290 WCI Canada
81 64 Sun Oil 331 268 VS Services
82 - ITT Canada 332 288 Maclaren Power and Paper
83 65 Dow Chemical of Canada 333 385 N.M. Paterson & Sons
84 66 Canada Cement Lafarge 334 299 Digital Equipment of Canada
85 - Canadian Fuel Marketers 335 302 Western Supplies
86 74 Union Carbide Canada 336 246 Hewitt Equipment
87 60 Agro Co. of Canada 337 - Campeau Corp.
88 80 Falconbridge Nickel Mines 338 260 Nissho-Iwai Canada
89 67 Crown Zellerbach Canada 339 226 Canada Malting
90 61 Swift Canadian 340 281 TIW Industries
91 68 General Foods 341 249 Otis Elevator
92 76 Golden Eagle Canada 342 283 Les Constructions du St-Laurent
93 70 Westburne International Industries 343 - Carma Developers
94 - The Great Atlantic & Pacific Co. of Canada 344 279 Barbecon
95 82 Mitsui & Co. (Canada) 345 273 Monenco
96 77 Weldwood of Canada 346 311 Canbra Foods
97 103 Marubeni Canada 347 286 Algoma Central Railway
98 88 Alberta Gas Trunk Line 348 343 Canam Manac
99 87 Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting 349 375 Imperial Optical
100 78 Price 350 298 The SNC Group
101 73 Kraft 351 277 Culinar
102 71 Pacific Petroleums 352 220 McIntyre Mines
103 72 Procter & Gamble Co. of Canada 353 - Kinney Shoes of Canada
104 - Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada 354 322 Laidlaw Transportation
105 - Metro-Richelieu 355 295 Steetley Industries
106 89 Hugh Russel 356 265 Atlantic Packaging Products
107 - The Jim Pattison Group of Companies 357 - Boots Drug Stores (Canada)
108 94 John Deere 358 292 Hilton Canada
109 101 Kaiser Resources 359 - The Imperial Group
110 - Nu-West Development Corp. 360 291 Dominion Citrus & Drugs
111 81 Goodyear Canada 361 280 Electrohome
112 84 Canron 362 387 RivTow Straits
113 85 Hawker Siddeley Canada 363 270 Commonwealth Construction
114 69 Westinghouse Canada 364 - Chesebrough-Pond's International
115 117 Bombardier Inc. 365 - Eurocan Pulp and Paper
116 96 Seaboard Lumber Sales 366 - Costain
117 83 Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas 367 - Headway Corp.
118 - Carling O'Keefe 368 331 Banister Continental
119 91 Chevron Canada 369 294 Procor
120 95 Southam 370 - Somerville Belkin Industries
121 86 Standard Brands 371 167 Canadian Motor Industries Holdings
122 90 The Continental Group of Canada 372 256 Federal Industries
123 139 Indal 373 276 Standard Industries
124 102 Xerox of Canada 374 285 Courtaulds (Canada)
125 119 Continental Grain Co. (Canada) 375 - Donohue
126 - Daon Development Corp. 376 313 Black & Decker Canada
127 93 Firestone Canada 377 - Automotive Hardware
128 - Consumers Distributing 378 272 York Lambton
129 98 Lever Brothers 379 327 Newfoundland Light & Power
130 106 American Can of Canada 380 336 Spar Aerospace
131 - Dylex 381 354 Crestbrook Forest Industries
132 99 RJR-Macdonald Inc. 382 320 Leitch Transport
133 114 J.M. Schneider 383 337 Brown Boveri (Canada)
134 - PanCanadian Petroleum 384 300 Canadian Foundation
135 160 Jannock Corp. 385 326 Foodex
136 120 American Motors (Canada) 386 325 Pine Point Mines
137 121 Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of Canada 387 - Allarco Developments
138 104 Canadian Corporate Management 388 323 Lornex Mining
139 116 Thomson Newspapers 389 321 Normick Perron
140 - Versatile Cornat Corp. 390 316 Chromasco
141 110 Power Corp. 391 303 Union Oil Co. of Canada
142 111 White Motor Corp. of Canada 392 335 Sintra
143 107 Johns-Manville Canada 393 334 Extendicare
144 97 Poole Construction 394 - Benson & Hedges (Canada)
145 112 Silverwood Industries 395 - Block Bros. Industries
146 118 Celanese Canada 396 342 Canadian Occidental Petroleum
147 - Cadillac Fairview 397 297 B.G. Checo Engineering
148 - Acklands 398 382 Bralorne Resources
149 122 Finning Tractor and Equipment 399 319 Quebec-Telephone
150 109 Redpath Industries 400 317 Nordair
151 100 Ontario Paper 401 253 The Resource Service Group
152 132 Torstar Corp. 402 - People's Jewellers
153 135 Great Lakes Forest Products 403 - Millhaven Fibres
154 186 Intercontinental Packers 404 318 DRG
155 - Canadian Appliance Manufacturing 405 - Amerada Minerals Corp. of Canada
156 126 Kodak Canada 406 307 Motorola Canada
157 105 Interprovincial Pipe Line 407 361 Volvo Canada
158 146 Denison Mines 408 - Pharmaseal Holding
159 127 Uniroyal 409 338 Nelson Lumber
160 130 Monsanto Canada 410 284 Cadbury Schweppes Powell
161 140 Calgary Power 411 - Flintkote Holdings
162 169 Ivaco 412 - The East Asiatic Co. of Canada
163 138 Fraser Companies 413 391 Luscar
164 124 Rockwell International of Canada 414 315 Avon Products
165 - Sobeys Stores 415 - Nabob Foods
166 136 PPG Industries Canada 416 - Associated Grocers
167 133 Robin Hood Multifoods 417 230 Cassiar Asbestos
168 137 British Columbia Packers 418 380 Dome Mines
169 134 Coca-Cola 419 296 Warrington Products
170 115 Atco 420 - Peter Bawden Drilling
171 75 Reed Paper 421 - Kanematsu-Gosho (Canada)
172 - Comstock International 422 332 Genesco Apparel
173 162 Fiberglas Canada 423 330 Wabasso
174 207 Bow Valley Industries 424 333 The Canada Starch Co.
175 145 St. Lawrence Cement 425 356 Lake Ontario Cement
176 147 BC Sugar Refinery 426 340 SCM (Canada)
177 155 Sherritt Gordon Mines 427 363 La Verendrye Management Corp.
178 - General Distributors of Canada 428 351 Baton Broadcasting
179 305 Inter-City Gas 429 - Four Seasons Hotels
180 128 Canadian Superior Oil 430 - Saint John Shipbuilding and Dry Dock
181 143 Kuehne & Nagel International 431 - Cansulex
182 159 Gaz Metropolitain 432 365 Fruehauf Trailer Co. of Canada
183 - Canadian Honda Motor 433 345 D.H. Howden & Co.
184 - Paccar of Canada 434 - Canadian Fishing
185 152 Emco 435 - Allis-Chalmers Canada
186 131 Consolidated Foods Corp. 436 - Canada-Cities Service
187 148 Maclean-Hunter 437 - Marine Industries
188 181 Cara Operations 438 328 Harding Carpets
189 154 Kruger Pulp and Paper 439 - Cochrane-Dunlop
190 - Macleod Stedman 440 359 Livingston Industries
191 177 Volkswagen Canada see below continued below
192 173 National Sea Products " " Top 25 Financial
193 151 B.F. Goodrich Canada " " Top 15 Insurance
194 166 McDonald's Restaurants of Canada " " Top 20 Crown Corporations
195 149 Dominion Dairies      
196 203 Reichhold      
197 - Brown & Root International      
198 141 Sperry Rand Canada      
199 156 Great Canadian Oil Sands      
200 163 Allied Chemical Canada      
201 168 RCA      
202 201 Home Oil      
203 - R. Angus Alberta      
204 - Parrish & Heimbecker      
205 144 Quebec Iron and Titanium      
206 - Trizec Corp.      
207 179 Fednav      
208 161 Commonwealth Holiday Inns of Canada      
209 192 Ingersoll-Rand Canada      
210 - Grafton Group      
211 170 CAE Industries      
212 164 Cyanamid Canada      
213 - A. Janin & Co.      
214 157 Ralston Purina Canada      
215 - George Wimpey Canada      
216 191 Agra Industries      
217 171 Canadian Reynolds Metals      
218 175 Cana Construction      
219 187 Canadian Gypsum      
220 - Revelstoke Companies      
221 178 Honeywell      
222 194 Westeel-Rosco      
223 176 Canadian Cellulose      
224 183 3M Canada      
225 180 Interprovincial Steel and Pipe      
226 - Reitman's (Canada)      
227 197 James Richardson and Sons      
228 - Drug Trading      
229 158 Placer Development      
230 - Eaton Corp. (Canada)      
231 153 Budd Canada      
232 - Dravo Construction      
233 - Mac's Convenience Stores      
234 142 F.P. Publications      
235 - Fording Coal      
236 221 Brunswick Mining & Smelting      
237 - Bristol-Myers Canada      
238 189 H.J. Heinz Co. of Canada      
239 188 Murphy Oil      
240 184 CKR Inc.      
241 193 National Drug & Chemical Co. of Canada      
242 210 Nissan Automobile Co. (Canada)      
243 204 Trimac      
244 251 Quebecor Inc.      
245 198 NCR Canada      
246 - Dresser Industries Canada      
247 233 Balfour Guthrie (Canada)      
248 199 Philips Canada      
249 211 Reed Stenhouse Companies      
250 - Rolls-Royce Holdings North America      
           

Financial Institutions

Rank Company Rank Company
1978   1978  
1 The Royal Bank of Canada 14 National Trust
2 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce 15 General Motors Acceptance Corp. of Canada
3 Bank of Montreal 16 Guaranty Trust Co. of Canada
4 The Bank of Nova Scotia 17 Bank of British Columbia
5 The Toronto-Dominion Bank 18 Credit Foncier Franco-Canadien
6 Banque Canadienne Nationale 19 Central & Eastern Trust
7 Royal Trustco 20 The Montreal City & District Savings Bank
8 Canadian Trustco Mortgage 21 Traders Group
9 The Provincial Bank of Canada 22 Montreal Trust
10 Canada Permanent Mortgage 23 The Investors Group
11 IAC 24 Wood Gundy
12 The Mercantile Bank of Canada 25 Ford Credit Canada
13 Victoria and Grey Trust    

Insurance Companies

Rank Company Rank Company
1978   1978  
1 Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada 9 Standard Life Assurance
2 The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. 10 Crown Life Insurance
3 The Great-West Life Assurance Co. 11 North American Life Assurance Co.
4 London Life Insurance 12 The Prudential Insurance Co. of America
5 Canada Life Assurance 13 The Prudential Assurance Group of Companies
6 Mutual Life Assurance Co. of Canada 14 The Imperial Life Assurance Co. of Canada
7 Confederation Life Insurance 15 Royal Insurance - Canada
8 Metropolitan Life    

Crown Corporations

Rank Company Rank Company
1978   1978  
1 Bank of Canada 11 The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board
2 Ontario Hydro 12 Export Development Corp.
3 Hydro-Quebec 13 Canadian Wheat Board
4 Central Mortgage & Housing Corp. 14 Ontario Housing Corp.
5 Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec 15 Atomic Energy of Canada
6 British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority 16 Federal Business Development Bank
7 Canadian National Railways 17 NB Electric Power Commission
8 Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund 18 Air Canada
9 Petro-Canada 19 Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
10 Farm Credit Corp. 20 Saskatchewan Power