Canadian General Electric · 1983
Red high-voltage apparatus and stacked white ceramic insulators on a plant floor.
Steel and Aluminum
Canadian General Electric
2 pictures · 1983
- Founded
- 15 July 1892 (merger of Edison Electric Light Company of Canada and Thomson-Houston Electric Light Company of Canada); Peterborough plant opened 1891
- Head office then
- Toronto, Ontario; principal works at Peterborough
Canadian General Electric made electrical equipment in Canada for General Electric. It was incorporated on 15 July 1892 from the Canadian Edison and Thomson-Houston companies. The Peterborough plant had opened in April 1891 and built motors, generators, and later a wide range of industrial gear. The appliance side went into Camco with GSW in 1975.
Peterborough was a major electrical-manufacturing city because of CGE. Local accounts put peak employment around 6,000. The plant supplied motors and generators used in Canadian power and industry.
Why it mattered
Peterborough was a major electrical-manufacturing city because of CGE. The plant employed thousands (local accounts put peak employment around 6,000) and supplied motors and generators used in Canadian power and industry. CGE also built the Karachi nuclear plant, opened 1971.
Now
The company was renamed General Electric Canada Inc. in 1987 (McGill). Manufacturing at Peterborough ended in 2018. GE Vernova, spun out of GE in 2024, still has an engineering presence on the site. There is no independent CGE public company.
Still open
- McGill dates the General Electric Canada Inc. name to 1987. Some company and local histories say 1989, when GE took full ownership. Both dates are recorded; 1987 is the McGill legal-name date.
- How much manufacturing remains at Welland versus Peterborough engineering is not inventoried here.
Sources
The pictures
- Canadian General Electric 1983 — annual reportarchive.org/details/McGillLibrary-637462-30635
- Canadian General Electric 1983 — annual reportarchive.org/details/McGillLibrary-637462-30635
References
- Peterborough Examiner: history of General Electric in Peterborough1891 plant opening; 1892 CGE; 2017-18 closure
- Peterborough Examiner: manufacturing ends after 126 yearsfate: Peterborough manufacturing ended 2018; 358 jobs announced 2017
- GE Vernova: Peterborough site updates1892 CGE expansion; GE Vernova still on site after 2 April 2024 spin-off
- McGill Canadian Corporate Reports: General Electric Canada Inc.fate: CGE renamed General Electric Canada Inc., 1987