In 1845, Henry Morgan opened a dry-goods retail operation on Notre Dame Street, Montréal, in partnership with David Smith. In 1851, Smith left for Chicago and Henry's brother, James, arrived from Glasgow to join the firm. Morgan's moved in 1866 to St. James Street and by 1874 employed some 200 clerks. In 1891 the store was moved uptown to St. Catherine Street and had become, by this time, the largest retail establishment in Canada. The firm remained a family business for more than a century. Branches were opened in Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton, and in various shopping centres near Toronto and Montréal, during the 1950s. In 1960 Morgan's was purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company.

John Stewart Henry (M.D.,C.M., McGill, 1925) was born in Salisbury, New Brunswick. In order to finance postdoctoral studies, he worked during the summer of 1927 at Murray Bay; among the summer visitors he treated were former U.S. President William Taft and a Boston physician, Vincent Bowditch. In 1925 he married Leila Murdoch, M.D. Her mother, Lysbeth Dawson Murdoch (1856-1946) a native of Macduff, Scotland, had a long career in teacher training in Great Britain. As a young woman she had wished to be a doctor, but could not obtain admission to any medical school (including McGill, although Principal Dawson was her cousin) on the grounds of her sex. Barbara Mitchell (1777-1856) came from Forgue, Scotland to settle near her cousin James Dawson (father of Principal Dawson) in 1814. She remained only a short time before returning to Scotland.

Henry & Stoddart was a business based in St. Catharines, Ontario, that traded with Robertson Masson & Co.

Henri Jonas & Co. was a Montreal firm that specialized in the importation and manufacture of extracts, essences, spices, and luxury food items. The company's founder Henri Jonas was born in Paris, France, and established the business in Montreal in 1870 at 10 De Bresoles St. as a manufacturer of "grocers' sundries." By the late 1880s, the company was also importing international products. By 1888, Henri Jonas was working with a business partner, Jessie Joseph Jr. The company was later based at 389 St. Paul Street in Old Montreal. By 1907, they were established at 139 St. Paul W., where they operated until sometime between 1970 and 1975.