ManufacturerBenson & Hedges (Canada) Ltd.

Benson & Hedges (Canada) Ltd.

Benson & Hedges expanded into Canada in the 1900s, having already opened up a branch in New York City in 1899. For its first five decades, it mainly specialized in manufacturing and selling cigars in the Canadian market; the cigar manufacturer J. Hirsch and Sons of Montréal was acquired by Benson & Hedges Canada in the 1920s.

Benson & Hedges (Canada) Ltd. was incorporated in Canada in 1934. The company was run independently from its English parent; as such, it was bought by Philip Morris by 1958, four years after they bought the American branch. After being taken over, Benson & Hedges began to expand into the Canadian cigarette market, this move being facilitated by the opening of a cigarette factory in Brampton, Ontario, in 1961. Early brands manufactured by B & H Canada include Ascot, Henley, and Lancaster.

Philip Morris faced a unique situation in the Canadian market place. Early in the twentieth century, Philip Morris had established a Canadian subsidiary, but it was later bought by the Tuckett Tobacco Company, which in turn was acquired by rival Imperial Tobacco, which continue to hold some of Philip Morris' most famous trade marks (including Marlboro and Philip Morris, among others). That notwithstanding, Benson & Hedges Canada launched Philip Morris' Alpine and Parliament in the early 1960s.