The national animal of Canada is the beaver. The beaver was given official status as an emblem of Canada when an Act to provide for the recognition of the beaver (castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada received royal assent on March 24, 1975. The beaver played a prominent role in Canadas development during the fur trade in the 1600s and became a symbol for the Hudson Bay Company, a Canadian department store chain that originally started as a Fur Trading business in 1670. Later in 1937, the beaver was added to the 5-cent nickel, and finally in 1975 was declared the national animal of Canada.