York Factory is commemorated for its critical role in the French-English struggle on Hudson Bay for control of the fur trade, as an important Hudson's Bay Company trading post and entrep™t (See definition below) for over two and one half centuries, and for its role in the expansion of the fur trade into the interior of western Canada. The following are essential to an understanding of the national significance of York Factory: the importance of the fur trade in Canadian history, the international dimensions of the trade, and the interaction of aboriginal peoples and their trading partners at York Factory, was integral to the role of the site.