Canadian General Electric

Canadian General Electric (CGE, also known as GE Canada) was a Canadian manufacturer of various electrical products. The company was a forerunner of General Electric Canada, now known as GE Canada. It was the Canadian counterpart of the American company General Electric. The unit became General Electric Canada in 1989.

The early logo for Canadian General Electric, similar to the logo for General Electric in the U.S.A.

Canadian General Electric Co. Limited (CGE) was incorporated in Canada in 1892 as a merger of Edison Electric Light Company of Canada (of Hamilton, Ontario) and Thomson-Houston Electric Light Company of Canada (of Montreal), both incorporated in Canada in 1882.^[1] The Canadian merger occurred in the same year as the merger of parent companies Edison General Electric (of Schenectady, New York) and Thomson-Houston Company (of Lynn, Massachusetts) into General Electric, which continues to the present day as a major international conglomerate.

CGE had about 500 employees at inception and was already producing generators, transformers, motors, wire and cable, and lighting products for consumer and industrial products.^[2]

Label on a GE Canada AC Generator at the Limestone Generating Station in Manitoba, Canada.

Historic milestones

CGE had a long manufacturing history in Canada:^[2]

• 1892 - Founded
• 1899 - Produces the Canadian General Electric electric car, for model year 1899 only, in Peterborough, Ontario. The car is essentially a Woods Electric.
• 1911 - Acquires Sunbeam Lamp Company of Toronto.
• 1912 - Montreal lamp plant established.
• 1921 - Vacuum tube operations begin in Toronto.
• 1922 - Canadian Edison Appliance Company established.
• 1945 - Small appliances plant opens in Barrie, Ontario.
• 1946 - Plastics plant opens in Cobourg, Ontario.
• 1946 - Lighting plant opens in Oakville, Ontario.
• 1947 - Electric meter plant opens in Quebec City.
• 1971 - First nuclear power plant in Pakistan opens, built by CGE^[3]
• 1975 - Household appliance division spun off and merged with GSW Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of household appliances with brands such as McClary, Easy, and Moffat, in a new company named Camco. Camco is a publicly traded company and is a part of the General Electric family of companies.
• CGE becomes General Electric Canada, a wholly owned unit of General Electric
• 1990s - Electric lamp operations in the Oakville, Ontario factory slowly begins to get transferred to Warren, OH and Winchester, VA (now closed) lamp plants. Most fluorescent tube operations are ceased by the late 1990s.
• 2009 - Most incandescent lamp production lines in the Oakville, ON plant are stopped. Production is transferred to Winchester, VA.
• 2010 - Oakville, ON lamp plant closes. Remaining incandescent lamp operations are transferred to Mexico and China. A few products are outsourced from Sylvania's US plants. T8 fluorescent tube operations goes to Bucyrus, OH.

References

General Electric Subsidiaries and divisions Current GE Capital GE Capital Aviation Services GE Commercial Finance GE Energy Financial Services GE Money GE Capital Rail Services GE Capital Rail Services (Europe) Trailer Fleet Services GE Technology Infrastructure GE Aviation GE Aviation Systems GE Healthcare GE Transportation GE Energy GE Digital Energy GE Jenbacher GE Measurement & Control Solutions GE Oil & Gas GE Power & Water GE Wind Energy GE Home & Business Solutions GE Consumer & Industrial GE Intelligent Platforms GE Global Research Former and defunct Australian Guarantee Corporation1 Canadian General Electric1 Compagnia Generale di Elettricità2 Electric Bond and Share Company2 GE Americom2 GE Aerospace2 GE Betz1 GE Capital IT Solutions2 GECIS2 GE Equipment Services1 GE Industrial1 GE Infrastructure1 GEIS2 Genesis Lease2 GE Security2 Genworth Financial2 Montgomery Ward2 Tungsram1 Whatman1 Joint ventures and shareholdings Current CFM International (50%) Engine Alliance (50%) GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (60%) GE Honda Aero Engines (50%) Penske Truck Leasing TBS GB Former Alco-GE (1940–53) NBC (1926–30, 1986–2004) NBCUniversal, LLC (2004–13) Products and brands Aircraft engines General Comprehensive Operating System GEnie Locomotives Mazda Reciprocating engines Trivection oven Tungsram People Founders Charles A. Coffin Thomas Edison Edwin J. Houston Elihu Thomson Other James Cash, Jr. Ann Fudge Susan Hockfield Jeffrey R. Immelt Andrea Jung Rochelle Lazarus Sam Nunn Roger Penske Douglas A. Warner III Jack Welch Bob Wright Places and facilities GE Building General Electric Building General Electric Realty Plot General Electric Research Laboratory General Electric Switchgear Plant John F. Welch Technology Centre Nela Park Other Edison Engineering Development Program GE Inspira GE True The General Electric Concert General Electric EdgeLab General Electric Theater General Imaging Thomson-Houston Electric Company Timeline United States v. General Electric Co. 1Now integrated into other GE divisions or business groupings 2Sold Category Commons