List of gentlemen's clubs in Canada

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The following list is of gentlemen's clubs that operated in Canada. The gentlemen's club is a type of British social institution that originated in the 18th century and flourished particularly in the 19th century. Gentlemen's clubs served as places for men to dine, drink, read, and socialise.

As a part of the British Empire, Canadians adopted the gentlemen's club tradition enthusiastically. Most of Canada's clubs were founded during the Victorian era and used similar rules to their British counterparts. These rules included a proscription on discussions about politics and religion, silence in reading rooms, and a ban on smoking in dining areas. Clubs oriented towards businessmen prohibited briefcases in dining rooms. Wallace Clement described Canada's gentlemen's clubs as "one of the key institutions which form an interacting and active national upper class."[1] Clement listed the six most important clubs as the National, York, Toronto, Mount Royal, St James, and Rideau.

By the 1970s gentlemen's clubs had started to decline in prestige and importance. Several factors contributed to this decline. During the preceding decade, Canada had begun to abandon its British culture, traditions, and symbols.[2] Bryan Palmer described this process as a shift in "self-conception away from an age-old attachment to empire, in which comfort could be taken from a prideful understanding of keeping alive European traditions."[3] As quintessentially British institutions, gentlemen's clubs suffered from this transformation. Another reason was that the baby boomer generation that had come of age during the countercultural revolution was skeptical of authority, tradition, and formality,[4] all of which gentlemen's clubs embodied. Consequently, baby boomers joined private clubs in far smaller numbers than preceding generations. Finally, changes to Canadian tax law forbade members from writing off club dues as business expenses. In his 1975 tome The Canadian Establishment, author and journalist Peter C. Newman devoted a chapter to gentlemen's clubs, entitled "Clubland on the Rocks." Newman described the generational change that was leading to the decline in clubs, saying, "Not so very long ago, at lunchtime on any given weekday, the nation's Establishment conducted most of its charitable, commercial, and political liaisons inside club dining rooms. This is no longer true. The new-breed wheelers are dealing downtown in the smart places where they can sniff out the fast money, looking past their luncheon companions' shoulders to see who's breaking bread with their competitors."[5]

By the 1980s many clubs were struggling financially. These financial difficulties, coupled with pressure from feminists who opposed all-male clubs, led all of Canada's gentlemen's clubs to cease operating as such and begin accepting female members. During the following decades many clubs continued to struggle attracting new members. Since 1985, eight clubs have closed, merged, or reformed. Today, Canada's former gentlemen's clubs function mostly as business and networking institutions. Along with moving to a mixed-sex format, most clubs have adopted more casual dress and behavioural codes.[6][7]

List of clubs[]

Name Province City Established Became mixed-sex Original affiliation Fate
400 Club Alberta Alberta Calgary 1951 1989 Petroleum industry Closed in 2002[8]
Albany Club Ontario Ontario Toronto 1882 1979 Progressive Conservative Party
Arts and Letters Club of Toronto Ontario Ontario Toronto 1908 1985 Arts
Assiniboia Club Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Regina 1882 1988 none Closed in 2007[9]
Calgary Petroleum Club Alberta Alberta Calgary 1948 1989[10] Petroleum industry
Cercle universitaire Quebec Quebec Quebec City ? 19?? University graduates Merged in 1984 with the Garrison Club to become the Cercle de la Garrison
Club St-Denis Quebec Quebec Montreal 1874 198? Francophone business Closed in 2009[11]
Edmonton Club Alberta Alberta Edmonton 1899 1986 none Closed in 1994
Edmonton Petroleum Club Alberta Alberta Edmonton 1950 1987 Petroleum industry Reformed in 2020 as Edmonton City Club[12]
Garrison Club Quebec Quebec Quebec City 1879 1984 Army Merged in 1984 with the Cercle Universitaire to become the Cercle de la Garrison
Halifax Club Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Halifax 1862 1986[13] none
Hamilton Club Ontario Ontario Hamilton 1873 1986[14] none
London Club Ontario Ontario London 1880 1993 none
Manitoba Club Manitoba Manitoba Winnipeg 1874 1991 none
Mount Royal Club Quebec Quebec Montreal 1899 1990[15] none
Mount Stephen Club Quebec Quebec Montreal 1926 198? none Closed in 2011[16]
National Club Ontario Ontario Toronto 1874 1992 Canada First
Ontario Club Ontario Ontario Toronto 1909 1978[17] Liberal Party Merged with National Club in 2010
Ranchmen's Club Alberta Alberta Calgary 1892 1993[18] none
Rideau Club Ontario Ontario Ottawa 1865 1979 none
Saskatoon Club Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Regina 1907 1989 none
St Catharines Club Ontario Ontario St. Catharines 1878 1985 none
St James' Club Quebec Quebec Montreal 1857 1979 none
Terminal City Club British Columbia British Columbia Vancouver 1892 1991[19] none
Toronto Club Ontario Ontario Toronto 1835 1993[20] none
Union Club New Brunswick New Brunswick Saint John 1884 1936 none
Union Club of British Columbia British Columbia British Columbia Victoria 1879 1994 none
University Club of Montreal Quebec Quebec Montreal 1906 1988 University graduates
University Club of Toronto Ontario Ontario Toronto 1906 1988[21] University graduates
University Club of Vancouver British Columbia British Columbia Vancouver 1911 - University graduates Merged with Vancouver Club in 1986
Vancouver Club British Columbia British Columbia Vancouver 1889 1993 none
Waterloo Club Ontario Ontario Waterloo 1913 2015[22] none
Windsor Club Ontario Ontario Windsor 1903 1985[23] none
York Club Ontario Ontario Toronto 1909 1992 none

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Clement, Wallace. The Canadian Corporate Elite: An Analysis of Economic Power. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975: p. 247.
  2. ^ See, Christian P. Champion, The Strange Demise of British Canada: The Liberals and Canadian Nationalism, 1964-68, Toronto: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010.
  3. ^ Palmer, Bryan D. Canada's 1960: The Ironies of Identity in a Rebellious Era. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009, p. 5.
  4. ^ Epstein, Barbara. "Anarchism and the Anti-Globalization Movement." Monthly Review, vol. 43 no. 4, pp. 1-14.
  5. ^ Newman, Peter C. The Canadian Establishment, Volume 1. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975: p. 364.
  6. ^ Marotte, Bertrand. "Montreal's old clubs see new life with hip set; Anglo havens widen membership reach." Globe and Mail, 19 February 2007.
  7. ^ Stanley, Adam. "Private clubs let go of old rules to attract new clientele." Globe and Mail, 1 October 2019, p. B6.
  8. ^ Scotton, Geoffrey. "Calgary's 400 Club likely faces receivership." Calgary Herald, 4 September 2002, p. D1.
  9. ^ Johnstone, Bruce. "Regina institution to close Dec. 31." Regina Leader-Post, 19 December 2007, p. D1.
  10. ^ Ferguson, Eva. "Petroleum Club caves in; women everywhere, almost." Calgary Herald, 30 May 1989, p. A1.
  11. ^ "La fin d'une époque." Radio-Canada, 17 July 2009.
  12. ^ Cook, Dustin. "Petroleum Club moves Downtown under new name." Edmonton Sun, 19 February 2020, p. A8,
  13. ^ "Male bastion gives ground." Globe and Mail, 31 January 1986, p. A5.
  14. ^ Kenny, Amy. "The Hamilton Club: not an 'old boys' club' anymore." Hamilton Spectator, 9 September 2015, p. HB8.
  15. ^ Stikeman, H. Heward. The Mount Royal Club, 1899-1999. Montreal: Price-Patterson, 1999: pp. 96-97.
  16. ^ Lampert, Allison. "Mount Stephen Club to close." The Gazette, 19 October 2011, p. B1.
  17. ^ Cherry, Zena. "Diplomats join club." Globe and Mail, 26 January 1978, W2.
  18. ^ Crawford, Anne. "Club open to women - finally." Calgary Herald, 18 February 1993, p. B6.
  19. ^ "Men's club relents." Financial Post, 4 June 1991, p. 6.
  20. ^ Kastner, Susan. "Men's clubby inner sanctum creaks open to admit women." Toronto Star, 27 June 1993, p. A1.
  21. ^ Cameron, Stevie. "Well, at least the bar will remain sacrosanct at the University Club." Globe and Mail, 4 August 1988, p. A2.
  22. ^ Thompson, Catherine. "A new era: Waterloo club admits first female member." Waterloo Region Record, 2 October 2015, p. A1.
  23. ^ Severn, Ken A. The Windsor Club: An Historical Perspective. Windsor: Walkerville Publishing, 2012: p. 43.
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