The McGill Contingent of the Canadian Officers' Training Corps was established in 1912 to train students as militia officers. It's first commander was V.I. Smart, a McGill professor of railway engineering. The McGill C.O.T.C. was formally connected with the 148th (McGill) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and associated with a number of other units. During the Second World War, the contingent's role was reduced to training officers for the Canadian army. Overall the McGill C.O.T.C. provided military training for more than 12,000 men.

Formed in 1993, Canadian Heritage, or Patrimoine canadien, is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support Canadian identity and values, cultural development, and heritage. To fulfill these tasks, the department coordinates a portfolio of several agencies and corporations that operate in a similar area of interest. The four main areas are Sports, Major Events and Commemorations; Citizenship, Heritage and Regions; Cultural Affairs, and Strategic policy.

The Canada Cement Company was incorporated in 1909 by Max Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook), who merged eleven cement companies in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. For most of the period documented by this photographic collection, it was the largest cement company in Canada headquartered in Montreal. Using the Portland system of cement production, the Company expanded quickly until the Depression. Recovering in the late 1940s, the Company enlarged and modernized its Montreal East Plant, Plant No. 1 located in Pointe-aux-Trembles. By 1954 this plant with its heavily-bedded argillaceous limestone quarry was producing 30 percent of Canadian cement. The Company maintained other plants in Hull, Quebec; Port Colborne and Belleville, Ontario; Fort Whyte, Manitoba; and Exshaw, Alberta, as well as other various operations. In the later years, the Company became Canada Cement Lafarge and is now part of an international cement enterprise.