The Canadian Car and Foundry opened its doors in Fort William in 1912 and at its peak employed more than 7,000 people building aircraft for the Second World War effort.
The plant is now the Bombardier Thunder Bay business unit and employs about 1,300 people building rail cars, most of which head to Toronto.
Throughout the last century, five companies have owned the plant and Thursday the plant was recognized as a historical site in Canada. A plaque, to be placed at the local plant, was unveiled.
“There are so many people in Thunder Bay who have a connection to this plant. It’s been here 100 years. Generations have worked in this plant,” said Tory Tronrud, curator and director of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum.
Over the years, the products have changed from forestry equipment to aircraft to rail cars.
That versatility is one of the reasons it’s stayed in business for so long, said Tronrud.
“To be this healthy and looking forward to another 100 years is quite amazing because most manufacturing industries in Canada start off with a bang and then they grow big and then something happens,” he said.
“They don’t invest in themselves. They don’t rebuild and modernize. This plant has bucked the trend,” he added.
The management and staff are also why the plant has lasted these 100 years.
“They are highly qualified and they know what they’re doing. To have that trained workforce present is just a godsend for anybody who wants to invest in heavy industry,” he said. “To set this up from scratch would cost an enormous amount of money.”
Also given national recognition Thursday with a plaque was Elsie MacGill, who became the chief engineer at Can-Car in 1938 and oversaw the production of more than 1,400 Hawker Hurricanes.
She was also the first woman to design an aircraft, the Maple Leaf Trainer.
MacGill obtained her Master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1929 shortly after graduating contracted polio.
She eventually taught herself to walk again and it didn’t slow down her career.
“Within 11 years of her graduation, you hear of her not just being an engineer here, but the chief engineer, it tells you volumes about the sort of talent she had,” said Gordon Burkowski, author of Can-Car: A History 1912-1992.
“Whenever you hear about someone like that, the natural conclusion I think many young women will draw is if she can do it, given her context and given the fact she actually had a disability, I can do it. That’s so important,” he said.
Burkowski also worked at the plant from 1979 to 2007. He began working on the production line but moved into the human resources department in 1984.
He was pleased to see both MacGill and the plant recognized on a national level.
“I think many people don’t really know as much about the place as they should,” he said. “I think this event will help people know how important this plant is to Thunder Bay.”
The facility came under Bombardier’s ownership in 1992 and Bombardier Transportation North America president Raymond Bachant said over the past 100 years the plant has seen different phases of evolution and different types of products come from a skilled workforce.
“We’re very happy about being part of the history,” he said, adding the plant to continue to grow.
“It’s great we’re back to 1,300 employees in Thunder Bay. The last level of high employment was around the time this plant was producing the Hurricane aircraft,” he said.
“It’s good success here and we hope to continue on that and in securing additional business over the next years.”
Bombardier is holding a celebration open to the public on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Montreal Street plant.
