How did the Hudson’s Bay Company grow out of the search for the Northwest Passage?

The Hudson’s Bay Company was incorporated in 1670 as a direct result of 17th-century maritime expeditions into Hudson Bay that were originally launched to find a Northwest Passage to the Pacific.12

The company’s origins are tied to the explorers Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers. After their reports on the region's wealth in furs reached the English, they were employed to conduct further expeditions, including a 1668 voyage in search of the passage. While these explorers and their contemporaries failed to discover a viable trade route to Asia through the Arctic, the focus of the enterprise shifted from finding a passage to the profitable exploitation of local resources.34

Consequently, the company was granted a charter to occupy lands adjacent to Hudson Bay—later known as Rupert’s Land—and to conduct commerce there. This transition from exploration for a passage to the establishment of permanent fur-trading posts, such as Moose Factory, laid the foundation for the company’s long-standing role in the economic and political history of Canada.132