The Dominion Business College (DBC) traces its history to the the Dominion School of Accountancy and Finance (DSAF), founded at Winnipeg by David Cooper in October 1909. Private accountancy classes were first offered by Cooper to a class of 33 young men in single room at the old YMCA Building. The classroom was modestly furnished, with chairs surrounding three tresses between which were two picnic table tops. Enrollment increased and the business grew.
By early September 1911, Cooper launched the DBC as a department of the DSAF, in the Canada Building. The College offered daytime and evening classes, as well as distance education, in such topics as shorthand, typewriting, bookkeeping, English, grammar, law, spelling, and penmanship, while the the DSAF focused on business accounting, commercial law, economics, chartered accountancy, grain accounting, and political economy. With attendance rising quickly, new quarters were found at the Bell Block before another move four years later to the Carlton Building. This site would be the College’s home until 1919 when it moved to the Enderton Building, operating there until moving in 1927 to their own building off Memorial Boulevard. Branches were opened at sites in Elmwood (1927), St. James (1928), and St. John’s (circa 1933), with enrollment reaching nearly 2,000 students by 1934.
In March 1915, the DSAF became known as the Cooper Institute of Accountancy and Business Administration, also known as the Cooper Institute of Canada. The name was later shortened to the Cooper Institute of Accounting (CIA). Both the CIA and BDC operated under the banner of the Cooper Education Institute (CEI). Its incorporating members were David Cooper, Henry Slasor, William Henry Fenton (Principal), Isabelle Pinkerton (teacher), and Jean Cameron Cooper (wife of David Cooper).
Period
Principal
1909-1950
David Cooper (1888-1970)
Period
Principal
1911-1917
David Andrew Pender (1849-1943)
1918-1938
David Cooper (1888-1970)
1838-1941
?
1941-1946
William Gow Lamond (1895-1946)
1946-1950
David Cooper (1888-1970)
Period
Principal
1914-1915
William Henry Fenton (1872-1974)
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Birks Building / YMCA Building (276 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Canada Building (352 Donald Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bell Block (370 Donald Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Carlton Building (354 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dominion Business College Building (274 Osborne Street North, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dominion Business College Building / Elmwood Building (189 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dominion Business College Building / Chapman Building (1864 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)
“Chartered accountancy classes,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 October 1909, page 2.
“Wanted - bookkeepers, accountants [..., Dominion School of Accountancy and Finance],” Manitoba Free Press, 25 August 1910, page 14.
“Opening announcement [Dominion School of Accountancy and Finance],” Manitoba Free Press, 26 August 1911, page 10.
“Ways and means,” Manitoba Free Press, 2 September 1911, page 10.
“Building permits,” Manitoba Free Press, 11 September 1911, page 11.
“Cooper Institute of Accounting and Business Administration,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 March 1918, page 14.
“Be an accountant,” Manitoba Free Press, 16 October 1920, page 26.
“New building to be erected on Mall site,” Winnipeg Tribune Home Edition, 15 June 1927, page 1.
“College students annex honors in open competition,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 December 1927, page 7.
“Branch of College located in Elmwood,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 December 1927, page 7.
“College started as outgrowth,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 December 1927, page 7.
“Business College will open St. James Branch,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 August 1928, page 3.
“The Dominion Business College announces the opening of its new buildings in Elmwood and St. James,” Manitoba Free Press, 23 August 1929, page 4.
“Dominion Business College provides improved facilities,” Manitoba Free Press, 23 August 1929, page 4.
“Local firms supply material equipment,” Manitoba Free Press, 23 August 1929, page 4.
“City Junior Girls basketball champions,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 April 1929, page 25.
“The Cooper Institute of Accountancy, started in small way, has seen 25 years of progress and prosperity,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 4 August 1934, page 36.
“Dominion Business College is splendidly situated,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 August 1934, page 36.
“Students play their parts in amateur sport,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 August 1934, page 36.
“Western Canada’s most distinguished business training institute,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 August 1938, page 2.
Companies Office corporation documents (CCA 0059), Dominion Business College Limited, Archives of Manitoba.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 12 February 2023
