1867: Charles Théodore Viau sets up a bakery on rue Sainte-Marie (now Notre Dame) in Montreal, Quebec. The business makes bread and biscuits, including Village biscuits, which exist to this day in the Dare Traditions line.

1900-1901: Théophile Viau, son of the founder, created the first chocolate-coated mallow cookie, "Empire," the precursor of the Whippet, a top-selling Dare brand today.

1906: The planned construction of a new Canadian Pacific rail line forces the expropriation of the Viau factory in downtown Montreal, Quebec.

1907: Opening of a new factory constructed on 1st Ave., now Viau St., just north of Ontario St., in a new suburban area which became known as "Viauville."

1926: Viau listed on the Montreal Stock Exchange, being only the second French-Canadian institution to be admitted, after la Banque Canadienne Nationale.

1927: Whippet launched (named after a popular new Willys-Overland car called Whippet).

1952: $2 million project to almost double the factory, convert the heating plant to oil and add a new administrative building on Ontario St. opposite the plant.

1969: Viau is acquired by Grissol Food Limited (Yves Hudon).

1972: Grissol, including Viau, is acquired by Imasco Foods Limited, the food arm of Imperial Tobacco company.

1983: Imasco Foods, including Viau, is acquired by Culinar.

1999: Montreal cheese company Saputo Inc. buys Culinar, made up of the Vachon snack cakes business and CFS (Cookies, Fine Breads and Soups).

2001: Dare Foods Limited buys Culinar CFS (Cookies, Fine Breads and Soups) from Saputo Inc. Culinar is dissolved.

2003: St. Lambert (formerly Culinar's Lido) cookie plant expanded to accommodate production transferred from former Viau plant in Montreal, Quebec.

2004: Former Viau cookie plant at Viau and Ontario Streets in east-end Montreal closed and sold to a developer for re-purposing as "La Biscuiterie" residential condos.

2004: Dare sells the Loney's soups business to Produits Alimentaires Berthelet of Montreal.

The Guild of All Arts, founded in 1932, began as a co-operative arts and crafts community with similarities to Roycroft in East Aurora, New York. During the Second World War, the Guild became "HMCS Bytown", a training school for the WRENS, and later served as a rehabilitation facility. Finally, it developed into a historic country inn with extensive gardens overlooking the Scarborough Bluffs. The Guild's hotel operations and expansion were guided and overseen in detail by Rosa and Spencer Clark.

Budds Department Store was a family-owned business that first opened in Kitchener, Ontario in 1926. Four brothers from Saint John, New Brunswick, Lou, Jack, Mort, and Nat Budd purchased the Davis Economical Store at 227 King St. W. in Downtown Kitchener, reopening the doors shortly after as Budds Department Store. In 1931 the brothers opened a second location in Guelph. In 1933 the Kitchener store moved to a larger location to accommodate their growing business, and in 1937 a third location opened in Simcoe, turning their family business into a chain. Nat Budd's sons Howie and Stan got involved in the business in the 1960s, and later Howie’s son Jeff joined the business, taking over operations management and advertising in 1997. In 2015 the Budd family announced that all three locations would be shutting down due to Howie and Stan's wish to retire. In early January 2016 the Kitchener and Guelph locations closed their doors, and the Simcoe location followed within a month. Budds Department Store was just shy of its 90th anniversary.

The British Women's Temperance Association (BWTA), now called the White Ribbon Association (WRA), is a temperance organization that was founded in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1876 with the goal of education the public about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. They became an affiliate member of the World Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1885, and in 1893 a schism split the group into the Women's Total Abstinence Union and the National British Women's Temperance Association who campaigned also for suffrage. in 2004 the organization changed its name to the White Ribbon Association and today it offers free resources focusing on health education relating to alcohol, drugs and gambling.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Academy of Medicine is a networking organization for physicians in Kitchener-Waterloo.

The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario was established in 1933 and since that time has worked actively to preserve Ontario's architectural and environmental heritage. The North Waterloo Region Branch was established in 1980 and covers the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, as well as the townships of Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich.

Electrohome Limited was an international manufacturer of home electronics, appliances, furniture, and high-tech commercial projection and display systems, and an investor in television broadcasting, based in Kitchener, Ontario.
In April 1933, Arthur B. Pollock formed Dominion Electrohome Industries Limited with the purchase of the combined assets of two of his companies, Pollock-Welker Limited and the Grimes Radio Corporation Limited. His son Carl became general manager. The company, commonly called Electrohome, originally had three manufacturing divisions: radio and communications, appliances and metal products, and furniture and woodworking. It became a publicly traded company in 1946.
Over the next several decades, Electrohome produced a growing diversity of consumer and commercial products, including furniture (using the brand name Deilcraft); fans, humidifiers, and other appliances; electric motors; stereo hi-fi consoles; television receivers; and organs. Carl A. Pollock, who had replaced his father as president in 1951, implemented organizational change to manage the increasingly complex company. The operating divisions became Deilcraft, Electrohome Products, Motors and Metal Products, and Defence and Industrial Contracts; staff divisions were Design, Finance and Accounting, Industrial and Public Relations, and Purchasing and Customs. In the mid-1960s, the management structure was further decentralized, and operating divisions now included Private Trade Label, Product Styling, Motor and Metal Products, Consumer Products Merchandising, Consumer Products Engineering and Manufacturing, Deilcraft, and Distributor Products.
In 1967, the company’s name was officially changed to Electrohome Limited. In 1969, Carl’s son John A. Pollock was made vice-president, electronic products and was elected to the board of directors, and in 1972 became president. When Carl retired in 1974, Donald S. Sykes took over as chairman. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw more management changes: James Holmes joined the company as chairman and CEO from 1976 to 1979, and Stewart Maclellan as president and CEO in from 1979 to 1982, at which time John A. Pollock assumed the role of chairman and CEO. During that time, Electrohome abandoned television manufacturing and the electronics division focused on commercial and industrial products, including specialized video and data display monitors and large-screen projection television. Electrohome also entered new fields, including reverse osmosis/ultrafiltration systems and video-game monitors. It was also briefly involved with ventures in satellite television and videotex hardware. By the end of the 1980s, the company withdrew completely from the manufacturing of consumer products to focus on the two remaining business segments: broadcasting and commercial data and video projection and display systems.
Electrohome’s interest in broadcasting began in 1970 with the formation of Electrohome Communications Inc. to acquire Central Ontario Television Limited (later CAP Communications), the Kitchener broadcasting company formed by Carl A. Pollock, Kitchener-Waterloo Broadcasting Limited, and Famous Players Canadian Corporation Limited in 1953. The company, which operated CKCO-TV, CKKW-AM and CFCA-FM, was expanded in 1988 with the purchase of Sunwapta Broadcasting in Edmonton. In 1997, Electrohome sold these broadcasting operations as well as its interest in CTV to Baton Broadcasting Inc. for cash and shares in Baton.
In 1987 when Electrohome introduced the ECP 1000 single lens colour data and graphics video projector, the first of its kind in the world, the company soon became a leader in the field. The Display Systems business focused on monochrome and colour monitors and high-performance LCD monitors; it became a leading supplier for medical imaging and financial trading rooms. The Projection Systems business produced large screen colour video projection systems for data and graphics with developments in LCD and DLP (digital light processing) technologies. The 1999 acquisition of two smaller high-tech companies allowed Electrohome to also enter the fields of advanced visualization/virtual reality and digitized audio systems.
In 1998, Electrohome was divided into two entities, Electrohome Limited and Electrohome Broadcasting Inc. (EBI). The display and projection businesses were sold in 1997 and 1999 respectively and in 2004 the last manufacturing plant and head office building on Wellington Street in Kitchener was sold. For a time, Electrohome remained a holding company, and then in 2007, it sold its trademarks and in 2008 the corporation’s shares were cancelled and delisted. Electrohome maintains an office in the Wellington Street building and is in the process of dissolving.
Electrohome once employed 4400 people in almost 1.6 million square feet of factories and service areas in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, as well as sales offices throughout Canada and the US and in Europe. It also established manufacturing facilities in Tennessee and Malaysia. Over the years, Electrohome formed, acquired, and partnered with many other companies, including: Raytheon Corporation (Waltham, MA), Campbell Electric (Brantford, ON), Hawkesville Lumber Limited (Hawkesville, ON), Fry and Blackhall Limited (furniture manufacturer in Wingham, ON), Flexsteel Industries (Canada) Limited (upholstered furniture manufacturer in Stratford, ON), Lightning Circuits and Planar Circuits (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON), Brinkley Motor Products Company (Brinkley, AR), Gensat Communications Corporation (Toronto, ON), Display Technologies (Carthage, MO), Robotel Electronique (Laval, QC) and Fakespace Systems (Kitchener), which eventually merged with Mechdyne Corporation (Marshalltown, IA).

The Grand River Conservation Commission was the first watershed management agency in Canada when it received its formal Letters Patent in August, 1934. This was the first time local municipalities had banded together to address water management issues on a watershed scale. The founding partner municipalities were Brantford, Galt, Kitchener, Fergus and Caledonia. William Philip of Galt was the first chairman, and the Commission's head office was in Brantford. Other municipalities soon joined the partnership.

"During the Depression, the federal and provincial governments were more interested in helping people by providing government relief. But the tide was turning: governments were thinking about large-scale public works projects that would provide jobs and help the economy. The federal government’s National Employment Commission supported a proposal for a dam across the Grand River. By April 1938, the province and federal government had each agreed to contribute 37.5 per cent of the project. This left the municipalities to cover the remaining 25 per cent, an amount they could manage. This was divided among the municipalities differently based on tax assessment and benefits such as water supply, flood protection and sewage disposal. A second Grand River Conservation Commission Act was passed by the province in 1938 to broaden the commission’s responsibilities so it could manage the construction projects."

In 1942 the Commission completed the Shand Dam near Fergus, the first dam in Canada built for flood control, water supply and water quality purposes. This was followed by the Luther Marsh Dam in 1954 and the Conestogo Dam in 1958. The Commission also planted more than two million trees on their land and undertook some of the province's first large scale reforestation projects.

The success of the Commission, its watershed scope and municipal partnership model led to the Guelph Conference on Conservation in 1941, and the Conservation Authorities Act of Ontario in 1946. This new act led to the creation of 36 conservation authorities across the province. In fact, the commission supported the creation of the Grand Valley Conservation Authority in 1948 and the two organizations — the GVCA and GRCC had the same chair, William Philip of Galt. They amalgamated in 1966 to form the present day Grand River Conservation Authority and are the two founding organizations of the Grand River Conservation Authority.

The Concordia Club originated as the Concordia Male Choir in October, 1873 when Berlin (now Kitchener) had a population of approximately 3,000 people, the majority of whom were of German origin.

The choir quickly became famous for its excellent performances and played a central role in organizing the grand "Sangerfests" which were very popular in this region from the 1870's until the outbreak of WWI.

With the onset of World War I, the activities of Concordia had to be discontinued. However, in 1924 with the impetus provided by a large number of German immigrants to Kitchener, the club was reorganized, and on Feb. 10, 1925 officially incorporated as the "German Club, Kitchener, Ont." The club grew rapidly and branched out to embrace a much wider remit of activities and goals.

On Dec. 15, 1930 a charter in the name of "Concordia Club" was obtained. WWII interrupted operations again but the club was reestablished by its members in 1948, and grew quickly as a result of renewed high levels of German immigration. The club offered an ever increasing range of cultural activities through its growing number of sub-groups.

In 1954 the club purchased premises for the first time at Matlock Gardens at 429 Ottawa St. South in Kitchener, and in 1965 the Concordia Farm was purchased at Baden with a view to providing leisure and recreational facilities for club members. On the night of Nov. 17, 1971 a major fire destroyed most of the club premises. Plans to rebuild were quickly put in place. The new club premises were officially opened by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the same location on Oct. 6, 1972. In 1973 the club celebrated its 100th birthday, and marked this occasion by a week-long itinerary of events including two gala dinner-dances.

Today the Concordia Club is the largest of the German-Canadian Clubs in Kitchener. It strives to preserve German language, customs, and traditions, and serves as a place where old and new Canadians of German descent can meet. Choral music still forms a very important part of Concordia's year-round activities, but the club also offers its members a wide range of other cultural as well as sporting and social activities through its many other subgroups.

The Concordia Club has played a valuable role in promoting the preservation of the German language through its founding of the German Language School Concordia in 1970, and its continued support of the school after it was integrated into the Waterloo County public school system in 1973. The German literary competition introduced by Concordia in 1979, and its donation of scholarships to students of German language in local universities have also played an important role here.

The club also places priority on caring for its aged members, and the club was behind the decision to secure land for a seniors residence for the German-Canadian community in 1983. As a result of the efforts of Concordia the Senioren Haus Concordia Inc. was founded as a separate non-profit corporation with a board of directors comprising representatives from all German clubs in Kitchener. In 1984 the Senioren Haus Concordia was officially opened, and in 1990 the building of a second seniors' residence, Villa Concordia, was completed.

The Concordia Club can also be given credit for introducing a new Oktoberfest concept to the Kitchener-Waterloo area in 1967 when the club proposed that Oktoberfest take the form of a public celebration to be held over several days. Oktoberfest has been celebrated in this fashion ever since. Significantly the Concordia Club has always made donations to charitable organizations from Oktoberfest profits.

The Acadian Club in Waterloo, Ontario was a social club for single and married men of German background. On May 5, 1916, the club rooms were raided by members of the 118th Batallion for the purpose of removing a bust of the Kaiser and in the course of the raid the club sustained damage to property and premises. The Club submitted a claim for damages to the government which, like the claim made by the Concordia Club of Kitchener for damages sustained during a previous raid by the 118th Batallion on Feb. 16 of the same year, was rejected. (Ontario and the First World War: a collection of documents / edited with an introduction by Barbara M. Wilson. -- Toronto: Champlain Society, 1977.)

The Kitchener-Waterloo Young Men's Christian Association was founded in 1895 in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario by a group of citizens "eager to promote the spiritual welfare of young men and boys of the city." The first officers were all prominent community members: President E.P. Clement, Vice-President Louis J. Breithaupt, Recording Secretary T.M. Turnbull, and Treasurer E.D. Lang. First known as the Berlin Young Men's Christian Association, the Association was active until 1906 when financial difficulties and limited facilities made it necessary to cease local operations. It was reconstituted in 1919 when a fund-raising campaign resulted in the building of the structure at the corner of Queen and Weber Streets in Kitchener. This building remained its headquarters until the Association moved to its present locations on Carwood Ave. in Kitchener.

The founder of The Lang Tanning Company Limited, Reinhold Lang, came to Berlin (now Kitchener) from a small village in the German Rhineland with his eldest son George, and established a small tannery in 1849. The tannery was located on Foundry (now Ontario) Street in Berlin, and was moved to an area between Wilmot (now Victoria) and Francis Streets after fire destroyed the original plant. This area was chosen because there was a natural spring there that could be used as water supply for the tannery. The Lang Tanning Company then went on to become the largest sole leather producer in the British Empire, and Reinhold Lang, who was also a member of the Berlin Council in 1859, became a prominent local citizen. During the First World War, Lang Tanning produced huge amounts of saddle material, and in the Second World War it supplied sole leather and leather linings for aircraft gasoline tanks. The company discontinued operations as a tannery in 1954 due to competition from synthetic materials, but kept its five-acre downtown site and complex of 35 buildings until 1974, when the property was sold to Ball Brothers Limited (a Kitchener contracting firm). In 1954, at the time that the Lang Tanning Company ceased operations, Jerome Lang was president, and Reinhold (Bun) Lang was Chairman of the Board. In 1974, at which time the President of the company was Reinhold (Bun) Lang, the company held a final meeting where they wound up business: the payment of bills, the disposition of assets, and the surrender of the 1917 charter to the Federal Government.

The Canadian Women's Press Club was founded in 1904 by a group of Canadian woman reporters returning from a complimentary trip to the St. Louis Exposition. The club was suggested by George Henry Ham, the CPR's publicity director, and the first president was Kathleen Blake "Kit" Coleman. The Toronto Branch was founded in 1909, one of 15 regional branches organized over the years. Established as a "craft club" to help and promote its members in the profession of journalism, the Club remained active until the 1990's, counting as members most Canadian women journalists of note. In 1971 the Canadian Women's Press Club became the Media Club of Canada, and the Toronto Branch of the Club became the Media Club of Canada, Toronto Branch. In 1976 the Toronto Branch became an autonomous group under the name Toronto Women's Press Club, later changed to the Women's Press Club of Toronto. The Toronto Branch ceased in 199? and the Media Club of Canada suspended operations in 199?

By the 1980's the Women's Press Club of Toronto had launched a history project and put Kay Rex, a long-time member, in charge of collecting materials and writing a history of the Canadian Women's Press Club to 1971. Her book No Daughter of Mine: The Women and History of the Canadian Women's Press Club, 1904-1971 was published in 1995 by the University of Toronto Press.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Federated Charities was formed in 1941 by community and business leaders to raise money for war work done by local agencies. When World War II ended, the organization continued to raise money for local social service organizations and charities. In 1969 its name was changed to Federated Appeal of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area. On June 12, 1984 the board voted to join United Way/Centraide Canada and its name was changed again, to United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area. The organization's mandate has always been to aid people who need help by conducting a yearly fund-raising campaign benefitting its member agencies, who provide that help. (Williams, Cindy. Fifty Years of Caring and Sharing: a History of the United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, 1941-1991. Kitchener, Ont.: United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, 1993, c1992.)

The Kitchener Waterloo Sales and Ad Club was begun in 1933 with charter members including John Motz and J.G. Hagey. The club provided social and professional development opportunities for men engaged in the sales and advertising professions. Women were admitted into the club in the 1970's. In 2006, the Kitchener Waterloo Sales and Ad Club (then called iCON Sales & Marketing Club) decided to go on permanent hiatus.

Annapolis County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia located in the western part of the province on the Bay of Fundy. The county seat is Annapolis Royal. Established August 17, 1759 by Order in Council, Annapolis County took its name from the town of Annapolis Royal which had been named in honour of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. It was near the previous site of Port Royal, the chief Acadian settlement in the area. The Acadians had been forcibly removed by British government officials in the 1755 Grand Dérangement.

The firm of Haney, Haney, Kendall & Melville was established in 1860 and has conducted business since then under a number of names. The first firm name recorded in the papers is MacGachen and Colquhoun on a document dated 1865. Of F. Stewart MacGachen nothing has been discovered except that he was appointed solicitor for the Waterloo Mutual Fire Insurance Company, formed in 1863. The partnership of MacGachen and Colquhoun lasted approximately fifteen years, as by 1875 Colquhoun's name alone appears on documents. In 1876 Colquhoun then entered into partnership with Ward Hamilton Bowlby and Edwin Perry Clement, under the name Bowlby, Clement and Colquhoun, but remained for only a short period. After conducting business alone for several years, in 1889 he entered into partnership with Arthur B. McBride under the name Colquhoun & McBride. This partnership lasted until 1897 when Colquhoun accepted the postion of Collector of Customs. McBride practised alone for several years before taking another partner, E.P. Flintoft, and the firm name became McBride and Flintoft, ca. 1906. Flintoft left to become solicitor for the Canadian Pacific Railway, leaving McBride once again alone for several years until taking E.W. MacKenzie as partner with the firm name McBride and MacKenzie, ca. 1916. Still later, McBride took another partner and the firm name changed to McBride & McGibbon.

The earliest document in the collection is an abstract of a will which names James Colquhoun as a beneficiary. James Colquhoun was a Barrister of the Middle Temple, a brilliant lawyer who emigrated to Canada in 1842 with his wife, Mary Bryce Colquhoun. After initially establishing a law practise in Galt and speculating in land near Ayr James Colquhoun moved to Berlin ca. 1852, where he first lived on Frederick St. and then built the home now known as "Woodside", the boyhood home of William Lyon MacKenzie King. John King was a family friend and rented Woodside from Frederick Colquhoun from 1886 to 1893. Shortly after moving to Berlin he was appointed Clerk of the county court, a position he held until his death, as was also made deputy clerk of the crown. A keen interest in education led him to serve at various times as trustee or chairman on both the public and high school boards. He died in 1877.

Frederick Colquhoun, son of James Colquhoun, was born August 31, 1839 in Sterling, Scotland. He was educated in Berlin and studied law. From 1860 until 1897 he had a successful law practise; in 1897 he was appointed Collector of Customs at the port of Berlin, a post which he held until his death in 1906. As well, Colquhoun served as Village Clerk for Waterloo from 1868 to 1876, and for the Town of Waterloo from 1876 to 1897. He was secretary of the North Waterloo Reform Association and Children's Aid Society for a number of years, and an original member of the Board of Directors of the Dominion Life Assurance Co., 1900. At the time of his death he was President of the Berlin and Waterloo Hospital Trust. In approximately 1889 he built a house on a lot on the corner of King and Union Streets, Waterloo, currently 251 Mary St.and known as the "backwards house." The house originally faced King St. but subdivision of the original lot has left the back of the house fronting on Mary St.

Arthur B. McBride was born November 21, 1861, was educated in Toronto, called to the bar in 1884 and practised in Toronto until 1889. In 1889 he moved to Waterloo and went into partnership with Frederick Colquhoun. In 1887 he married Agnes Kumpf, daughter of Christian Kumpf. In Waterloo McBride served as director of the Globe Furniture Company, as well as being active in both the Odd Fellows and Masons.

The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation was established in 1984 by a group of citizens in Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, led by Walter Bean. It had originally been established as a trust by The Waterloo Trust (now Canada Trust) in August, 1930. "On May 1, 1984 the Ontario Legislature passed an act incorporating the K-W Community Foundation to take over the assets and assume the responsibilities of the original foundation bearing the same name."(KWCF document, May 1, 1985). The Foundation is administered by a board of directors who are responsible for overseeing its policies and practices. Donations to the Foundation are invested, with the income from the funds distributed in the form of grants to community organizations serving a wide range of needs, including cultural, educational, health and community services.

The Schneider Employees' Association (SEA) was established in 1945 after workers at the Schneider Foods plant voted to be represented by an internal employee association. At the time United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA) was also vying to represent the employees. Prior to the employee association being established, Schneider Foods was well known for its positive relationship with its employees and benefits including free meals, sick leave, and employee redistribution to help ensure everyone had a fair number of hours. The history of the SEA indicates that the Committee for Industrial Organizations (CIO) specifically targeted Schneider Foods for unionization because of this relationship, believing that if they could organize here where workers had an amiable relationship with their management, they would be able to organize anywhere. A group of 12 workers at Schneider Foods felt that an internal employee association would be better able to understand the needs of the workers than an outside organization and as such they drafted a proposed constitution and elected officers.

The original executive consisted of John Albrecht (president), Edwin Yanke (vice-president), Edwin Hurlbut (secretary) and Cecil James (treasurer). This employee association was sanctioned by the management and they began recruiting members. Almost one year after the SEA was established, workers at the plant voted to elect the SEA as the legal bargaining unit and the first meeting was held December 10, 1945. The first collective agreement was signed on September 23, 1946 granting employees a 12 cent per hour raise. In June of 1947 a hospital, medical and sick leave benefit plan was agreed to that covered employees as well as their families and in 1949 an employee pension plan was arranged. By 1956 there was some disagreement among employees as to whether the SEA was still the best choice, or if they should be represented by the United Packinghouse and Commercial Workers of America (UFCWA). A vote on April 4, 1956 saw the SEA continue to represent employees and negotiate a new two year agreement. Throughout the next few decades the agreement would be updated, and benefits changed, to keep in line with the changing needs of the employees, including equal pay for women workers in 1971.

During the mid 20th century there were more changes at the plant and to the agreements, including covering employees in Ayr, Wellesley, Thunder Bay, Manitoba, and Alberta. Throughout the years there was only one strike, in 1988, and relations between the employees and the company remained amiable through many changes in ownership after the Schneider family sold the company in 1997. In 2014 the Schneider Foods plant in Kitchener closed for good and the SEA ended after almost 70 years.