ICE Futures Canada (IFCA)—known as the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange (WCE) until 2008—was a

derivatives market The derivatives market is the financial market for derivatives, financial instruments like futures contracts or options, which are derived from other forms of assets In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a ...

based in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, and was Canada's only commodity

futures exchange A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or ...

.Winnipeg Free Press, January 2, 2008 – City's commodity exchange has been put on ICE
/ref> Prior to 2008, WCE was the subsidiary of WCE Holdings Inc., which also owned WCE Clearing Corporation, and Canadian Climate Exchange Inc. In 2007, WCE was purchased by the U.S.-based Intercontinental Exchange. In mid 2018, IFCA's

futures Futures may mean: Finance *Futures contract, a tradable financial derivatives contract *Futures exchange, a financial market where futures contracts are traded * ''Futures'' (magazine), an American finance magazine Music * ''Futures'' (album), a ...

and options contracts transitioned to ICE Futures U.S. (IFUS). Under the IFUS

trading name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

, ICE continues to electronically trade Canadian contracts for milling

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

durum Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it represe ...

, western

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, and

canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...

(

rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...

). ICE's operations in Manitoba are regulated by the

Manitoba Securities Commission Manitoba Finance () is the department of finance for the Canadian province of Manitoba. The Minister of Finance (; originally Provincial Treasurer) is the cabinet minister responsible for the department, as well as for managing the province's fi ...

. In contrast, the Ontario Securities Commission has provided ICE an order that exempts it from the requirement to be recognized as a stock exchange and as a commodity futures exchange in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

History

The Winnipeg Grain & Produce Exchange was established in 1887. Initially serving as a forum for cash trades in Canadian grains, it introduced its first

futures contracts In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

in 1904. Beginning with

futures, it subsequently added futures trading in

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human co ...

, flax, and rye. In 1908, the Exchange was re-organized as a

voluntary Voluntary may refer to: * Voluntary (music) * Voluntary or volunteer, person participating via volunteering/volunteerism * Voluntary muscle contraction See also

* Voluntary action * Voluntariness, in law and philosophy * Voluntaryism, reje ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, changing its name to the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. In 1972, with the opening of the market in

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

futures, the Exchange was renamed the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange. It also formerly operated the Canadian Financial Futures Market. In December 2004, WCE converted from the traditional " open outcry" method of trading to an

electronic trading In finance, an electronic trading platform also known as an online trading platform, is a computer software program that can be used to place orders for financial products over a network with a financial intermediary. Various financial products c ...

format, making it the first fully-electronic exchange in North America.Reuters, Dec. 10, 2007 1:26pm EST – Winnipeg exchange says switch to ICE goes smoothly
/ref> The privately-held WCE was purchased by the U.S.-based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in September 2007 for $40 million ($62.08 per

common share Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Comm ...

), changing its name to ICE Futures Canada on 1 January 2008. Until December 2007, futures were traded on the platform of the Chicago Board of Trade. In mid 2018, IFCA's

and options contracts transitioned to ICE Futures U.S. (IFUS). (The canola contract was the IFCA's last remaining futures commodity.) Brad Vannan was the president and CEO of ICE Futures Canada at the time.

Buildings

The Winnipeg Commodity Exchange buildings past and current, have been located within downtown Winnipeg. The first Commodity Exchange building was constructed in 1899 on Princess Street. The

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

is now part of the

Red River College Red River College Polytechnic (RRC Polytech) is a List of colleges in Canada, college located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the province's largest institute of applied learning and applied research, with over 200 degree, diploma, and cer ...

Princess St. Campus. The second building was located at 167 Lombard Street and was constructed from 1906 to 1908 by Toronto-based architectural firm

Darling and Pearson Darling and Pearson was an architectural firm based in Toronto from 1895 through 1937. The firm was prolific and produced consistently fine work though the patronage of notable figures of the Canadian establishment, and is responsible for enhancing ...

. It is still in use as office space, and known as the Grain Exchange Building. The Winnipeg Commodity Exchange then moved to the Commodity Exchange Tower at 360 Main Street in 1979. In 2008, the tower was renamed to 360 Main after the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange was absorbed into the American-based Intercontinental Exchange. The present 360 Main Street is home to the Underground Shops of

Winnipeg Square Winnipeg Square (also known as the Shops of Winnipeg Square) is an underground shopping mall located at Portage and Main in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was built in 1979 by Smith Carter Parkin for the Trizec Corporation, and has 45 ...

. Locally, the building is also known as the Artis Building since it was originally developed by Trizec. The building was completed in 1979 and is the fourth tallest building in the city, at with 31 floors. The construction of the building originally planned to have a twin with a hotel in the middle. The foundation for the other buildings were completed but the second tower was not built until 2022, when Artis Reit Residential Tower was constructed. Architectural plans for the second tower were updated in the interceding period, so that the second building is not an identical match with the first building as originally planned. To date, the planned hotel has not been built.

References

Bibliography

Reuters, November 2, 2007 9:13am EDT – Winnipeg wheat futures slip toward demise-trade
*{{cite book , last = Levine , first = Allan , authorlink = Allan Levine , title = The Exchange : 100 years of trading grain in Winnipeg , publisher = Peguis Publishers , location = Winnipeg , year = 1987 , isbn = 0-920541-40-2 , url-access = registration , url = https://archive.org/details/exchange100years0000levi

External links

"Winnipeg Commodity Exchange To Become ICE Futures Canada"
(press release, 2007) Commodity exchanges Defunct companies based in Winnipeg Futures exchanges Defunct financial services companies of Canada