ABSTRACT
In 2017 the Dominion of Canada will celebrate its 150th birthday. While Canada is a relatively young country by world standards, trade by Europeans within the geographic areas encompassed by Canada dates back to at least the 1500s. Canadian history prior to Confederation can be divided into three broad phases, each about a century long and each characterized by a different aspect of its social, economic and political history. As well, each represents a different phase of community development through the exploitation and marketing of a variety of staples. One of the fundamental theories encountered in the study of Canadian economic history, and thus Canadian marketing history, is the staples thesis, popularized by Harold Innis in his 1930 book, The Fur Trade in Canada. The staples thesis argued that the stages of colonial development depended on the exploitation of a succession of key primary resources – fish, fur, timber and agricultural products such as wheat.
