History
"Canadian General Electric Company was Canada’s premier manufacturer of large and small appliances. Its brand name was so well known among consumers that it rarely gave in to national retailers’ demands for less expensive private-label versions of its popular designs. The company first produced electric lamps, generators, transformers, motors and cables. In its heyday, during the fifties, it operated plants across Ontario and Quebec. The small-appliance factory in Barrie, Ontario, opened in the post-war era. It produced clocks, small appliances, heaters and outdoor equipment. The freelancer Fred Moffatt of Toronto was its principal designer. After the Second World War, the Toronto factory manufactured consumer electronics, although most radios, for example, were based on U.S.-designed moulds. In the late sixties, Robin Bush designed wooden cabinetry for stereos, including an adventurous spherical design that never went into production. CGE ran a large plastic moulding plant in Cobourg, Ontario, which sometimes subcontracted its services to other companies. Industry consolidation resulted in Black & Decker taking over the small-appliance division in 1984, and it was closed the following year. CGE’s major-appliance factory, based in Montreal, merged with Canadian Appliance Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) in 1977. GE Canada, a subsidiary of General Electric Company, opened in Toronto in 1987."