Much has been written about Kingston's employment mix, with government institutions: prisons, Canadian Forces base, government department offices; educational institutions: Queen's University Royal Military College and later St. Lawrence College; and this mix of smaller industries in which some come and go, growing and moving away, or being bought out by larger interests.
At the time of this listing, the largest industries were those producing new 'in demand' products derived from fossile fuels and mining. The smokestack industries, such as they ever were in Kingston, had already died or were dying their slow death. Steam locomotives, small ships and lumber could be sourced more cheaply offshore and imported. High labour costs began to define profit and loss. It was a time when 'we still built things', just not as many of them, and the employment figures for those companies would never recover.
The listing shows the company name, products if shown, and employment:
- Aluminum Co. of Canada - shapes, sheets -2,170
- Aluminum Laboratories - 168
- Anglin, S. Co. Ltd. - woodworking, lumber - 72
- Canadian Dredge & Dock Co. Ltd. - ship repairs - 24
- Canadian Industries Ltd. - Terylene - 1,030
- Fairbanks Morse (Canada) Ltd. - machinery - 270
- Davis, A. & Son Lrd. - tanners - 85
- DuPont Co. of Canada Lrd. - nylon yarn - 2,750
- DuPont of Canada Research Centre -84
- Frontenac Floor & Wall Tile Ltd. - Division of United Ceramics Ltd. - 162
- Gus Marker Block & Tile - concrete blocks - 32
- Kingston Shipyards Ltd. - ship building - 250
- Vicom & Co. (Canada) Ltd. - metal stampings - 46
- Doyles Bakery - 100
- Weston Bakeries - 185
- MacLachlan Lumber - 58
Kingston Industrial Commission sign at CN Outer Station, 1966 (top photo - Queen's University Archives).
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