Bata´s shoes from Zlín were exported to Canada since the late 1920s, and in the following decade several Bata sister companies were founded in the country. In 1939, production of footwear and machinery began. A few years later, the network of stores expanded. Production in the factory continued until the end of the 20th century.
- Export of shoes from Zlín gradually increased since the end of the 1920s: 12,000 pairs (1928), 74,000 pairs (1932), 1,657,000 pairs (1934); the supply from Bata factories outside Czechoslovakia was dominant
- In the spring of 1932, Tomas Bata opened the first store in Canada; yet this attempt of developing own sales network ended after a short time
- In 1937, a sister company Canadian Commercial Enterprise, Montreal was founded; In the years 1938-1939 the company Bata Import and Export Comp. Ltd., Toronto was established; in 1940 additional two companies were set up – Falcon Shoe Comp. Ltd., Toronto; Canadian Commercial Enterprises Ltd., Toronto
- In the period of 1938-1939, Bata Shoe Comp. of Canada Ltd., Batawa was set up, which has become the backbone of Bata´s Canadian business
- In July 1939, Tomas Bata Jr. obtained a permission from the Canadian government to bring about 200 Czech workers for a newly established factory in Ontario. The land for the factory was purchased near the village of Frankford (Ontario); a factory and an extensive settlement named “Batawa” (BATA + OttaWA) were built
- In August 1939, machines for the new factory were brought to the Montreal port from Zlin
- In September 1939, production began in the first workshop in a building of a former paper mill; gradually additional workshops were added and equipped for machine production; construction of new factory buildings for shoe and engineering production began near the former paper mill; the number of workers in the factory visibly increased in the following years: 700 people (1941), 1,000 people (1944)
- Building of Batawa continued in the next years: theater (1942), business district and church (1943), etc.
- In 1943, the Bata Limited was founded in Batawa
- In 1946, Bata´s retail network in Canada contained 53 stores
- During the period of 1945-1948, the Canadian Commercial Enteprises, Bata sister firm which focused mainly on negotiations of cooperation with the Czechoslovak authorities (mutual supplies of machines, products and raw materials) operated in Prague
- 1962 – the following companies were registered in the list of existing Bata companies for the territory of Canada:
- Bata Shoe Company of Canada Limited (Canada)
- Quinte Footwear Limited (Ontario)
- Tiga Trading Company Limited (Ontario)
- Canadian Commercial Enterprises Limited (Canada)
- Batawa Community Corporation Limited (Ontario)
- Kent Shoes Limited (Ontario)
- Bata Limited (Canada)
- Britcan Holdings Limited (Ontario)
- Muscamo, Canada, Limited (Canada)
- Noco Limited (Newfoundland)
- New World Investments Limited (Canada)
- Sigmund Pumps (Canada) Limited (Canada)
- In 1979, the Bata Shoe Museum Foundation was founded; the museum was open to public from 1995
- In 1992, the following Bata enterprises were operating in Canada:
- Bata Footwear, Batawa
- Bata Engineering, Batawa
- Sales Office, Montreal
- Sales Office, Winnipeg
- Sales Office, Vancouver
- Norimco Marketing, Markham
- Tiga Trading, Markham
- Bata Retail, Toronto
- At the beginning of the 1990s, 1,300 people worked in Batawa.
Sources:
- Alain Gatti, Chausser les hommes qui vont pieds nus, Metz 2004, ISBN 2-87692-619-9
- Bohumil Lehár, Dějiny Baťova koncernu, Praha 1960
- Antonín Cekota, The Stormy Years, New Jersey 1985
- Antonín Cekota, Boj o domov, Toronto 1944
- Antonín Cekota, The battle of home, Toronto 1944
- Jaroslav Pospíšil – Hana Pospíšilová, Rub a líc baťovských sporů, Zlín 2012, ISBN 978-80-7473-037-5
- Thomas J. Bata, Remmembered, Zlín 2016, ISBN 978-80-7473-398-7
- Moravský zemský archiv v Brně – Státní okresní archiv Zlín, Česko