Pedlar (fur trade)

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Pedlar is a term used in Canadian history to refer to English-speaking independent fur traders from Montreal who competed with the Hudson's Bay Company in western Canada from about 1770 to 1803. After 1779 they were mostly absorbed by the North West Company. The name was first used by the Hudson's Bay Company to refer to French coureurs des bois, who travelled inland to trade with the Indians in their villages and camps. This was in contrast to the HBC policy of building posts on Hudson Bay, to where the Indians would bring furs to trade with them.

The pedlars were important for three reasons: they helped transfer woodland skills from French-Canadians to the English-speakers who dominated the trade in the nineteenth century. Although English and Scots men had the capital to become traders for the HBC, most of the voyageurs, guides, and interpreters were French-Canadian or Métis people. They helped transfer knowledge of the country from the Indigenous peoples. Second, the pedlar competition forced the HBC to build posts inland. After 1821, the HBC monopoly became an informal government for western Canada. It is credited with contributing to the confederation of western and eastern Canada. Third, the pedlars opened up much of the country west of Lake Winnipeg. By the time the Canadian trade approached the Rocky Mountains, most pedlars had been absorbed into the North West Company.