ABSTRACT
Grain was the major contributor to the economic development of western Canada, and the grain industry today remains as one of Canada’s most important sectors. It ranks second, behind the lumber industry, as an earner of foreign exchange. The development of the early system of marketing grain in Canada closely paralleled that of the United States. Grains are marketed in Canada through one of three channels: the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), the dual CWB-open market system, or the open market. Prior to the turn of the twentieth century, the main marketing problems in Canada were related to grading standards and the preservation of competition at local delivery points, where railways were granting line elevator companies monopoly loading rights. The CWB is an agency of the government of Canada and is primarily a sales agency. The CWB had monopoly selling privileges for all interprovincial feed grain movements from the late 1940s until 1974.
