Toronto, Ontario – Volvo Canada is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Canada; the company was officially created on July 21, 1959.

In 1958, a company named Auto Imports (Swedish) Ltd. entered into an agreement with Volvo AB in Sweden to import and distribute Volvo vehicles in Canada, but it quickly became apparent that a more official presence from Volvo would be required to serve the Canadian market. The company initially planned to establish its head office in Montreal, but eventually settled in Scarborough (Toronto), and in 1961 became fully operational and responsible for the Volvo brand.

The company outgrew its Scarborough head office and in 1965 moved to a building and warehouse nearby in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto. Seven years later, it moved to its current home on Gordon Baker Road in north Toronto.

In 1963, Volvo AB established its first foreign assembly plant in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, producing the PV 544 for the North American market. By 1966, the plant reached its annual capacity of 3,700 units and in 1967, production moved to a new, larger plant in Halifax. The new plant assembled the P120, 140-series, 200-series, 700-series, S70 and V70 before closing in 1998.

During its first 50 years, the company has sold more than 350,000 vehicles in Canada.