20 Canadian Inventions That Changed the World

Arguably Canada's greatest contribution to humanity. In 1921-1922, Dr. Frederick Banting and student Charles Best discovered insulin at the University of Toronto, with biochemist James Collip helping to purify it for human testing. Before this discovery, Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. The first patient treated, Leonard Thompson (age 14), had his life saved in January 1922. Banting received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1923 — the first awarded to a Canadian — and shared his prize money with Best. Today, insulin keeps more than 400 million people alive worldwide.

In 1950, Canadian engineer John Hopps built the world's first external cardiac pacemaker, working with cardiac surgeons Wilfred Bigelow and John Callaghan at the University of Toronto. During hypothermia research, they discovered that electrical stimulation could restart a heart stopped by cold. The first device was bulky, but the invention paved the way for modern implantable pacemakers. Today, more than 3 million people worldwide live thanks to a pacemaker.

Ontario-born engineer George Klein, dubbed "Canada's most productive inventor," developed the world's first motorized wheelchair at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa. The invention was requested by Officer John Counsell to help injured World War II veterans. The "Klein Chair" transformed the lives of millions of people with reduced mobility by giving them autonomy and dignity. Klein also invented aircraft skis and the microsurgical staple gun.

In 1938, physicist Eli Franklin Burton and his students James Hillier and Albert Prebus built the first practical electron microscope at the University of Toronto. Capable of magnifying objects hundreds of thousands of times, this instrument revolutionized biology, medicine and materials science. It allowed viruses to be seen for the first time, paving the way for modern virology and the development of vaccines that have saved millions of lives.

Alexander Graham Bell, born in Scotland and settled in Brantford, Ontario with his family in 1870, conceived the telephone in Canada and developed it in his Boston workshop. According to Bell himself, "the telephone was conceived in Brantford." In 1876, he made the world's first long-distance telephone call between Brantford and Paris, Ontario. The invention revolutionized human communications forever. Bell lived in Canada until his death in 1922, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

Two Canadians contributed to inventing the portable two-way radio. Donald Hings, a British-born engineer raised in British Columbia, created a portable radio "pack set" in 1937. Alfred J. Gross, born in Toronto, patented the walkie-talkie in 1938, a device he had been developing since age 12. The invention was crucial during World War II for military communications and became the foundation for all modern mobile radio communications.

Mike Lazaridis, a Turkish-Canadian engineer based in Waterloo, Ontario, revolutionized communications by creating the BlackBerry in the late 1990s. This smartphone allowed users to send emails, browse the Internet and make phone calls — all in one device. The BlackBerry became the symbol of the mobile business era, used by presidents and CEOs worldwide. At its peak, Research In Motion (RIM) employed more than 17,000 people in Waterloo, turning the city into a global tech hub.

Born from the excitement of Expo 67 in Montreal, IMAX technology was invented by Canadian filmmakers Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor and Robert Kerr, with engineer William Shaw. They developed a camera system capable of filming high-resolution images projected on giant screens. The name IMAX stands for "Image Maximum." The first permanent IMAX theatre opened in Toronto in 1971 (Cinesphere, Ontario Place). Today, there are more than 1,700 IMAX screens in over 80 countries.

The Canadarm, a 15-metre robotic arm, became the symbol of Canada's contribution to space exploration. Built in Brampton, Ontario by SPAR Aerospace, it first flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1981. Used for 30 years across 90 shuttle missions, it deployed and retrieved satellites, assembled the International Space Station and even repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. Canadarm2, installed on the ISS in 2001, continues to operate. The Canadarm appears on the Canadian five-dollar bill.

Scottish-Canadian engineer Sir Sandford Fleming is the "father of standard time." After missing a train in Ireland due to confusion between local times, he proposed dividing the world into 24 time zones. In 1883, North American railways adopted his system. In 1884, at the International Prime Meridian Conference in Washington, 25 nations adopted worldwide standard time. Fleming also designed Canada's first postage stamp (the 1851 "Three Penny Beaver").

Dr. James Naismith, born in Almonte, Ontario, invented basketball in December 1891 while working as a physical education teacher at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. Looking for an indoor sport to keep his students active during winter, he hung two peach baskets from a balcony railing and wrote 13 original rules. The sport has become one of the most popular in the world, played in over 200 countries and followed by billions of fans. The Basketball Hall of Fame bears his name.

While its exact origins are debated, modern ice hockey was organized and codified in Canada. The first formal rules were established in Montreal in 1877 by James Creighton. The first organized league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, was founded in 1886. Hockey became Canada's national winter sport (National Sports of Canada Act, 1994) and the Stanley Cup, donated in 1893 by Lord Stanley, is the oldest professional sports trophy in North America.

Lacrosse is Canada's national summer sport (National Sports of Canada Act, 1994). Invented by the Indigenous peoples of Canada long before European contact, the game was called "baggataway" or "tewaarathon" and held spiritual and diplomatic significance. Games could involve hundreds of players on fields stretching several kilometres. Montreal dentist William George Beers codified the modern rules in 1867, the year of Confederation. Today, lacrosse is played in more than 70 countries. These innovative Canadians are among the nation builders who shaped Canada.

Joseph-Armand Bombardier, a self-taught mechanic from Valcourt, Quebec, patented the first snowmobile on June 29, 1937. His motivation was deeply personal: his two-year-old son died because they couldn't reach a hospital through the snow. The first models seated seven and were designed for doctors, ambulance drivers and priests in remote areas. The Ski-Doo (1959) made the invention accessible to everyone. Bombardier Inc. became a global transportation giant, manufacturing aircraft and trains.

Swedish-Canadian engineer Gideon Sundback, working in St. Catharines, Ontario, perfected the modern zipper in 1913. While earlier attempts existed, it was Sundback who designed the reliable interlocking-teeth model with a slider that still works today. He patented the "Separable Fastener" in 1917. First used by the military and navy, the zipper became ubiquitous in clothing, bags and equipment worldwide — an object we use multiple times a day without thinking about it.

Harry Wasylyk, an inventor from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Larry Hansen from Lindsay, Ontario, invented the disposable polyethylene garbage bag in 1950. The first bags were sold to the Winnipeg General Hospital for hygienic waste disposal. Union Carbide later manufactured the famous green Glad bags for home use in the late 1960s. The invention revolutionized municipal waste management worldwide, though it raises important environmental questions today.

In 1940, Canadian Norman Breakey of Toronto invented the paint roller, a simple tool that transformed house painting and home improvement. Before his invention, all painting was done with brushes — a slow and uneven process. Unfortunately, Breakey failed to protect his patent and other manufacturers quickly copied his design. Despite this injustice, his invention is used daily by millions of professional and amateur painters around the world.

Montrealer Marcellus Gilmore Edson patented the first peanut paste on October 21, 1884. His process involved grinding roasted peanuts on a heated surface until achieving a creamy, butter-like consistency. This patent (#36,763) is considered the origin of modern peanut butter. Today, peanut butter is a staple in North American households and a lunchbox classic — Canadians consume an average of 3 kg per person per year.

Canola oil is a 100% Canadian invention. In the 1970s, researchers Baldur Stefansson (University of Manitoba) and Keith Downey (Agriculture Canada) developed through plant breeding a rapeseed variety without the harmful acids found in the original species. The name "canola" comes from "Canadian Oil, Low Acid." Today, canola is the world's third most produced vegetable oil and Canada is its largest exporter. Golden canola fields are iconic to the Canadian Prairies.

Poutine — fries, cheese curds and gravy — was born in Quebec in the 1950s. According to the most popular legend, Fernand Lachance of the restaurant Le Lutin qui rit in Warwick served the first poutine in 1957, reportedly saying "it's going to make a damn mess (poutine)!" From humble Quebec snack bar origins, poutine has become a global culinary phenomenon, served in restaurants from New York to Tokyo, and a Canadian food icon as recognized as maple syrup.