With the development of the NWC, a transport and supply system spanning 4000 miles grew out of the old French trade routes. The fur trade of the Canadian Northwest extended over a wide area which included the basins of Hudson bay and the Great Lakes, and later embraced the Great Plains, the Rockies, and the Mackenzie and Pacific coast drainage systems.

The territory of the NWC was divided into two major regions: the petit nord and the grand nord. The grand nord was the vast area west and north of Lake Winnipeg and the petit nord encompassed the area bordered on the south by Lake Superior and on the west by Lake Winnipeg. It stretched to the north as far as the Hudson bay lowlands and to the east all the way to the divide between the Albany and Moose rivers. To administer these two regions, the NWC further divided them into local departments. In 1802, the concern was composed of 20 departments: Sainte-Marie, Michipicoton, Kamanistiquia, Grand Portage, Mille Lacs, Pic, Nipigon lake, Lac la Pluie, Rivière Rouge et Assiniboine, Lac Ouinipique, Fort Dauphin, Saskatchewan River, English River (Mississippi), Athabasca, Upper Athabasca River, South Side of Lac Superior and the Fond du Lac, Grand or Ottawa river, Saint Maurice, Moose River (Hudson bay), and Temiscamingue.

The internal structure of the NWC fur trade is best understood with a description of the people involved. At the top of this great business system were the London houses of commission merchants, who would export on credit the various trade goods needed by the Montreal traders. The Montreal fur traders of the 18th century were not all men of means, and the manufacturers and wholesalers in England who supplied them were in a position to advance goods on long credit. What was needed for the business to function was a middleman who could pay the manufacturers as the goods were delivered and send them to customers in America, and who was willing to tie up his own capital until the Montreal customer had sold the goods and remitted his payments. It was the commission merchant, or London agent, who performed these important tasks. His economic role was crucial, for it was he who provided the capital which allowed the business to develop, and exerted himself to find markets for the products the colonies provided. About 10 known London firms, such as the one operated by John Stretell, were of lasting importance to the Canada trade between 1760 and 1810. These firms were major suppliers of the NWC at different stages of its development.

In Montreal, the firms of merchants ordered and imported the trade goods. They also forwarded them inland with the help of hired clerks and voyageurs. Each spring the furs were carried out to Montreal, where the same Montreal fur traders would export them to Europe for sale. For this, they received, aside from the profits on their shares in the company, a commission on the amount of the accounts they managed. As such, the Montreal merchants acted as "agents" for the sale of the return on pelts. They also had the power to hire employees and purchase liquor, provisions, and other required commodities. These men were further given full powers to act as attorneys for the NWC and also in the names of individual shareholders.

Below the merchants, or Montreal Agents, came the partners, the highest rank among traders themselves. They were considered proprietors of the company and their salary was based on their shares in the concern. The trade goods were advanced to them on credit by the Montreal Agents. It was also the partners who carried on the actual trading in the interior.

The next grade in the service was the clerk, who was apprenticed to the trade for 5 or 7 years and hoped to become a share-holding partner in time. This was an incentive to promote the prosperity of the company. Not only did the clerk receive a fixed salary but he also obtained food and clothing for his period of service. Like partners, clerks administered some posts and were expected to keep annual journals and diaries, many of which have been transcribed. They were also directed to provide annual accounts of the expenditure of goods to their charge, the balance of provisions and the debts due by Indians and voyageurs. In Montreal, the clerks were the ones who supervized the preparation of the trade goods in 90 pound bales.

As a result of the geographic expansion of the trade, transportation covered almost half of the total expenses of the NWC. Throughout its history, the company had to overcome 4 obstacles relating to transportation: 1) the rich and profitable Athabasca country was 3000 miles from Montreal; 2) there were only 5 months from break-up to freeze-up; 3) a regular freight canoe could average only 1000 miles a month; 4) the canoe required for lakes Superior and Huron was too big for the smaller streams and portages of the interior. As a result, it was impossible to make such a trip each summer and still have time to barter for furs and return to Montreal. Thus arose an efficient transport system combining the sturdy Algonkian canoe, the robust French-Canadian voyageurs, and the complex networks of rivers and lakes of Canada. The logistics led to the development of a two-stage transportation network involving two sets of canoes and crews. A great entrepôt was established at Grand Portage (later moved to Fort William, now Thunder Bay, Ontario). Two canoe brigades set off from opposing sides, one bringing in trade goods from Lachine and the other carrying furs from the interior. In mid-May, they met at Grand Portage where they exchanged canoes. A month was used for "turn-around", to repackage of the goods and to arrange consignments for various posts along the way. By the end of July, the two sets of canoes were on their way back again. In this way, furs reached the east and trade goods reached the west within the 5 months of frost-free span.

Thus the fur trade of the NWC necessitated important activities in London, Montreal and the interior regions of Canada. But, the entire process was long and risky. Here are the complete steps of the trade:

October: expedition of orders for goods from the Montreal agents to England

April: shipment of the trade goods from London to Montreal

May-June: arrival of the trade goods in Montreal.

August to April: the trade goods are shipped to various warehouses, where they are packed into parcels weighing 90 pounds or 40 kilos each.

May: dispatch from Lachine of the trade goods to the interior by canoe.

June-July: arrival of the goods at Grand Portage or Fort William.

July: rendez-vous of the summer canoemen with the winterers, who pack up the goods and the winter canoes and head for the Northwest. The summer men return to Montreal with furs.

August to October: arrival of the goods at the wintering posts.

October to March: barter with Indians by the wintering partners.

July: return of furs at Fort William where they are given to a new arrival of summer men. Employees being dispatched to their respective departments and posts, the agents and clerks prepare to have the furs returned to Montreal by organizing them into packages of 90 pounds each.

September: arrival of furs in Montreal and preparation of shipment to England.

April: shipment of furs for the London market of auctions and exports.

After their arrival in England, the furs were finally paid for in May and June. This was three years after the trade goods which were traded for these same furs had been shipped from London, and two years after they were forwarded from Montreal. Throughout this time span, the trade was quite vulnerable, as an overturned canoe, epidemics, low fur returns by Indians, and a storm on the ocean could result in a massive fall in prices as well as lost benefits and lives.

Copyright © McGill University, 2001