The Dominion Textile Inc. or Domtex was a Canadian textile manufacturer that was founded in 1905 and closed in 1998 when its remains were purchased by the American Polymer Group, at the time headed by Jerry Zucker. History Following the instituting of the National Policy in 1879, Canadian manufacturers gained a degree of insulation from global markets, leading to a rapid increase in the number of cotton mills. Overproduction soon ensued, which created problems for the industry. Toward the turn of the century, it became increasingly consolidated and dominated by trusts and cartels. In 1905, four of the largest textile companies in Canada, which between them owned over half the looms and spindles in the country, merged to form Dominion Textile, which soon gained a near monopoly in the tariff-protected Canadian market. Based in Montreal, it was one of Canada's leading companies and had close links to the government. Most of the company's production was based in small towns in Quebec and elsewhere across Canada; in most of these towns, the mill was the primary employer. Dominion Textile and its affiliate, Montreal Cottons, used the Slater, or family method of recruitment, which involved sending agents into the rural Quebec countryside to encourage entire families to move to mill towns. This was successful because of Quebec's large population of surplus labour relative to its arable land. In general, the Quebec cotton industry had employed children since the 1880s, but legislation and a large working population resulted in a slow shift toward greater predominance of adults by the 20th century, many of whom were unmarried women. A concentration of textile mill workers were young women aged around sixteen to eighteen, who lived with their parents, often also mill workers, and who formed a significant part of the family as an economic unit. These women were concentrated heavily in lighter, semi-skilled work, with little upward mobility. Canada's textile industry suffered considerably during the Great Depression, resulting in layoffs and shifting the balance of employees for the first time to a majority of men. This was abruptly reversed during the Second World War, with production rising and women taking on new roles within the mills. Amidst labour market instability and the postwar Canadian strike wave (which also saw a major strike at Ford in Windsor, Ontario), there was a strike in June 1946 by the United Textile Workers of America (UTWA) at the Montreal