CANADIAN PACIFIC LTD.

formerly (18811971) Canadian Pacific Railway Company, privately owned company that operates one of Canada's two transcontinental railroad systems. The company was established to complete a transcontinental railroad that the government had begun under the agreement by which British Columbia entered the confederation in 1871. The main line from Montreal to Port Moody (a Vancouver suburb) was completed in 1885. Later the company absorbed other railroads, including several in the United States. For much of the company's history, most of its owners lived outside Canada, but this began to change after World War II as more Canadians began to invest in the company. By the late 20th century, about two-thirds of the voting rights were held in Canada. Canadian Pacific initially received a land grant of 25,000,000 acres (10,000,000 hectares). Over the years it acquired assets in mining and smelting and in timber. In 1956 it set out to develop these assets, establishing subsidiaries in oil and gas, minerals, fertilizers, food products, forest products, real estate, hotels, finance, trucking, telecommunications, shipping lines, and airlines. These assets were centralized in a holding company, Canadian Pacific Investments Ltd., in 1962, and the parent company was renamed Canadian Pacific Ltd. in 1971. In 1980 Canadian Pacific Investments Ltd. became Canadian Pacific Enterprises Ltd. It sold its airline in 1987. By the late 20th century railroad activities accounted for only a small part of the company's net earnings. Rail freight tonnage was largely in minerals, manufactured products, and grain. Canadian Pacific's passenger services were taken over in 1978 by the crown corporation VIA Rail Canada.