Tobacco growing in Canada dates back to the early colonial days, when settlers around the St. Lawrence adopted the smoking customs of the natives.
Tobacco was first grown in Québec. The early French settlers copied the primitive agricultural model set for them by the Indians. Some years later, a French colonial ordinance forbade the retail sale of tobacco in Québec, thus leaving the settlers without any incentive to improve the quality or yield of their crops. As a result, they grew only what they needed for their own use, curing it naturally in the open air. Centuries of persistence in this simple method of preparation brought recognition of a unique Québec tobacco, "tabac canadien".
The French colonists began trading tobacco in 1652, but it was not until 1735 that the French government actually encouraged tobacco growing in Canada. From then on it was cultivated fairly constantly. Two of the varieties grown were native to Québec – petit canadien and Rose Quesnel.
In Ontario, the tobacco growing industry was founded around Kent and Essex counties by the United Empire Loyalists. Emigrating from the Southern States during the American Revolution, they brought tobacco seeds with them for their farms.
When tobacco growing expanded commercially in the latter part of the 19th century, the principal type of tobacco cultivated in Québec and Ontario was burley (with some additional varieties of pipe tobacco in Québec). At this time, Québec was leading in production: the census of 1870-71 shows the total yield in Canada was 1,595,215 pounds of which 399,870 pounds were produced in Ontario and 1,195,345 pounds in Québec. Production in the two provinces expanded rapidly, and by 1910 it reached 17,500,000 pounds, with Québec still well ahead in production.
At the beginning of the 20th century, important changes took place in the tobacco industry. During World War I, the popularity of chewing and pipe tobacco declined and the demand for cigarettes grew rapidly. At the same time, a new method of curing was developed that produced a type of tobacco better suited for cigarettes. This system, flue-curing, produced what is known as flue-cured or Virginia tobacco. The new process revolutionized the Canadian tobacco industry.
William T. Gregory and his brother, Francis, were primarily responsible for the development of flue-cured tobacco in Canada. William came to Canada from North Carolina in 1900 to work for the Empire Tobacco Company (at that time a subsidiary of the American Tobacco Company and later acquired by the Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada). He arrived in Leamington, Ontario, at a time when only burley tobacco was being grown, and decided to plant Virginia tobacco. His brother Francis came to Canada in 1901 to supervise these experiments. The company encouraged their efforts, hoping to replace expensive U.S. imports with Canadian-grown flue-cured tobacco.
Having convinced the growers that the project could succeed, William, acting as an agent for the company, chose the Leamington district as the initial growing area. The location was selected because of its desirable soil type and its claim to a longer, frost-free period than any other area in Ontario.
The results were encouraging and Imperial Tobacco brought skilled growers from the U.S. to teach Canadian farmers improved methods of growing and curing. Production of flue-cured tobacco spread to the extent that in 1920, eight million pounds were produced in the Leamington district.
Production of this type of tobacco in Canada was very promising. In 1922, further experimentation with flue-cured tobacco was carried out in the Lake Erie area, where large tracts of sandy soil were perfectly suited for the plant. The first successful crop was grown in 1925 and with it began a new era in the history of Canadian tobacco.
With the development of this new belt, the industry eventually spread to 12 other areas throughout the province. Despite a continually declining national market, Ontario is the major tobacco producing region in Canada.
The major growing areas in Québec have been located north of Montréal, in Montcalm and Joliette counties. Production of flue-cured tobacco in the province began in 1930, and by 1933 two curing barns (kilns) were built, one in each county. Due to declining volumes over the years, large scale tobacco growing in Québec ended in 2005.
In previous decades, some production of flue-cured tobacco occurred in the Maritimes, with farms being established in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but this production has since ceased.
In addition to the tobacco bought from Canadian growers, Imperial Tobacco Canada also imports specific grades of tobacco from other countries, in order to ensure the highest quality blends of tobacco and consistency of taste for its products.
