U-Haul Starts Serving Canada

Jan 8, 2015

Spoot Canada U-Haul Trailer 1960s

2015 marks U-Haul Company’s 60th year of serving do-it-yourself movers in Canada. In 1955, U-Haul opened for business with dealerships in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia. By 1988, U-Haul was open for business in every province and territory. Today, U-Haul Company of Canada boasts stores and dealers from Victoria Island, British Columbia to Halifax, Nova Scotia—spanning more than 3,900 miles coast to coast.

U-Haul got its start in Canada in the early 1950s when U-Haul Dealers were recruited through advertisements in Readers Digest. After placing these ads, it took some time for a U-Haul Team member to make the journey to Canada to establish a U-Haul Dealership. One dealer in Montreal, Quebec, responded to an ad and it was two years before he met a U-Haul Team member face to face. Thankfully, it’s a much quicker process to open a U-Haul Dealership in Canada today.

Henry Kelly at Burlington Manufacturing Company in Canada , circa 1960

U-Haul Team Member Henry Kelly (right) at Burlington Manufacturing Company in Ontario, Canada, circa 1960.

In 1959, not long after U-Haul Dealerships began popping up all over Canada, U-Haul Team Member Henry P. Kelly opened the first Canadian manufacturing plant in Ontario: the Burlington Manufacturing Company.

In the 1970s, the first U-Haul Moving Stores were opened in Canada. Along with that noteworthy milestone, French-language decals, contracts, guides and other publications were introduced in Quebec Province. During this time, the first U-Haul trucks were introduced in Canada. In 1974, U-Haul opened a trailer manufacturing and repair plant in Beloeil, Quebec where trucks were built to meet Canadian specifications.

From humble beginnings in 1955 with a handful of dealers, U-Haul today is the largest moving and self-storage company in Canada, with more than 1,435 dealers, 82 stores, 5,547 trucks, 3,913 trailers and more than 2.6 million square feet of storage.

U-Haul Company of Canada Logo

We’d love to hear from our Canadian customers and members of Team U-Haul. Show us your Canadian pride in the comment section below!

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