A historic document that granted the Hudson’s Bay Company control over roughly one-third of what is now Canada is in public hands.
Historic document, issued by King Charles II in 1670, now in public hands
Ian Bickis · The Canadian Press · Posted: Jun 11, 2026 3:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 32 minutes ago
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The Manitoba Museum, the Archives of Manitoba, the Canadian Museum of History and the Royal Ontario Museum are expected to take turns hosting 356-year-old document. (Submitted by the Manitoba Museum/The Canadian Press)
A historic document that granted the Hudson’s Bay Company control over roughly one-third of what is now Canada is in public hands.
The HBC royal charter was unveiled at the Manitoba Museum in a ceremony with members of Indigenous groups that included a pipe ceremony and the lighting of a traditional Inuit oil lamp.
King Charles II issued the charter in 1670.
Kevin Tacan, who performed the pipe ceremony, said the document will be an important part of teaching history to children and help ask where the country goes from here.
The artifact was sold to the Weston and Thomson families for $18 million last year, after the fur-trading-company-turned-department-store’s collapse.
The two families donated it to the Manitoba Museum, the Archives of Manitoba, the Canadian Museum of History and the Royal Ontario Museum, which are expected to take turns hosting the document.
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