The following list is of gentlemen's clubs that operated in Canada. A gentlemen's club is a private

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...

that serves as places for men to dine, drink, read, and socialize. They originated in the 18th century as a type of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

social institution and flourished particularly in the 19th century.

History

As a part of the British Empire, Canadians adopted the gentlemen's club tradition enthusiastically. Most of Canada's clubs were founded during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

and used similar rules to their British counterparts, including: a proscription on discussions about politics and religion, silence in reading rooms, and a ban on smoking in dining areas. Moreover, clubs oriented towards businessmen prohibited briefcases in dining rooms. Wallace Clement described Canada's gentlemen's clubs as "one of the key institutions which form an interacting and active national upper class."Clement, Wallace. ''The Canadian Corporate Elite: An Analysis of Economic Power''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975: p. 247. Clement listed the six most important clubs as the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

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, Mount Royal,

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, and Rideau. By the 1970s, gentlemen's clubs had started to decline in prestige and importance. Several factors contributed to this decline. During the preceding decade, Canada had begun to abandon its British culture, traditions, and symbols. Bryan Palmer described this process as a shift in "self-conception away from an age-old attachment to empire, in which comfort could be taken from a prideful understanding of keeping alive European traditions." As quintessentially British institutions, gentlemen's clubs suffered from this transformation. Another reason was that the

baby boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. T ...

generation that had come of age during the countercultural revolution was skeptical of authority, tradition, and formality,Epstein, Barbara. "Anarchism and the Anti-Globalization Movement." ''Monthly Review'', vol. 43 no. 4, pp. 1-14. all of which gentlemen's clubs embodied. Consequently, baby boomers joined private clubs in far smaller numbers than preceding generations. Finally, changes to Canadian tax law forbade members from writing off club dues as business expenses. In his 1975 tome ''

The Canadian Establishment ''The Canadian Establishment'' is a series of books published in Canada by economic journalist Peter C. Newman Peter Charles Newman (born May 10, 1929) is a Canadian journalist and writer. Life and career Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigr ...

'', author and journalist

Peter C. Newman Peter Charles Newman (born May 10, 1929) is a Canadian journalist and writer. Life and career Born in Vienna, Austria, Newman emigrated from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1940 as a Jewish refugee. His parents were Wanda Maria and O ...

devoted a chapter to gentlemen's clubs, entitled "Clubland on the Rocks." Newman described the generational change that was leading to the decline in clubs, saying,

Not so very long ago, at lunchtime on any given weekday, the nation's Establishment conducted most of its charitable, commercial, and political liaisons inside club dining rooms. This is no longer true. The new-breed wheelers are dealing downtown in the smart places where they can sniff out the fast money, looking past their luncheon companions' shoulders to see who's breaking bread with their competitors. Newman, Peter C. 1975. '' The Canadian Establishment, Volume 1''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. p. 364.

By the 1980s, many clubs were struggling financially. These financial difficulties, coupled with pressure from

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

who opposed all-male clubs, led all of Canada's gentlemen's clubs to cease operating as such and begin accepting female members. During the following decades many clubs continued to struggle attracting new members. Since 1985, eight clubs have closed, merged, or reformed. Today, Canada's former gentlemen's clubs function mostly as business and networking institutions. Along with moving to a mixed-sex format, most clubs have adopted more casual dress and behavioural codes.Marotte, Bertrand. "Montreal's old clubs see new life with hip set; Anglo havens widen membership reach." ''Globe and Mail'', 19 February 2007.Stanley, Adam. "Private clubs let go of old rules to attract new clientele." ''Globe and Mail'', 1 October 2019, p. B6.

List of clubs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentlemen's clubs in Canada Lists of organizations based in Canada Canada history-related lists

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

List of clubs

See also

References