The Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers Limited was established in 1918 by members of Canada’s sheep industry as a national system for collecting and marketing wool on a co-operative basis. The principle was simple but powerful: regardless of the size of a producer’s clip, the time of year it was received, or the distance from market, each member would receive the same price for the same grade of wool.

As an organization owned by producers, the Co-operative operates as their marketing instrument. It collects, grades, measures, and markets members’ wool, deducts operating costs, and returns the remaining proceeds directly to the growers.

Today, the Co-operative grades and markets approximately 3 million pounds of raw wool annually from producers across Canada. Wool is classified into three general categories: fine, medium, and coarse. Each class is marketed wherever the strongest global price is available, with China being a major buyer. Wool is received directly from producers by truck or rail, then graded according to type, quality, fibre diameter (micron), length, yield, colour, and preparation. Similar types are hydraulically pressed into compact bales weighing up to 1,200 pounds. Each bale is core sampled to obtain objective measurement reports for international marketing. Approximately 90 percent of Canadian wool is exported.

The company’s mandate remains clear: to operate as a producer-owned co-operative that markets wool at the best possible price while running an efficient operation that maximizes returns to members.

The head office and primary warehouse are located in Carleton Place, Ontario, in a building rich with Canadian railway history. The structure once served as the roundhouse and machine shops for the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1890 to 1939, employing up to 200 men. When the railway operations moved to Smiths Falls in 1939, it was a significant loss for the town.

In the fall of 1940, however, the building reopened under new ownership — not by the railway, but by the wool growers. At the outset, the site still contained railway tracks, a turntable, wheels, and heavy machinery. With scrap iron in high demand during the early years of World War II, what might have been a liability became an asset. After an extensive cleanup and repurposing, the Co-operative began operations in Carleton Place.

Situated along the direct CPR line connecting Western Canada to Montreal, the location proved ideal for receiving wool from the West and shipping it through Montreal to England, Holland, Germany, and destinations across Canada. Although some export ports were closed during wartime, they reopened after hostilities ended.

Initially, major warehouses were located in Weston, Ontario. In 1967, due to changes in the wool industry, those facilities were sold and all grading operations were consolidated in Carleton Place. Administrative offices remained in Toronto until 1972, when they too were relocated. Today, the offices occupy what was once the railway’s storage and boiler rooms.