The FP-6000 was Canada's entry into the computer world (Western Development Museum)

When it came out in 1961, the FP-6000 was one of the first computers that used an operating system and was able to multitask.  The huge machine filled a room and required an air conditioner. The central computer alone consisted of four cabinets that were each over a meter wide. While the outward appearance of the FP 6000 bears little resemblance to modern desktop computers, the machine was among the first commercial computers to perform functions we now take for granted.

In 1961, Canadians designed a computer that was years ahead of its competitors, but the success of the Ferranti-Packard 6000 was cut short when the British government pulled the plug. An expert design team for the Ferranti-Packard company in Toronto helped move computers out of university laboratories and into office buildings with the FP 6000 general-purpose computer. After only five machines were built, Ferranti-Packard's computer division was bought by the British government and the FP 6000 project was canceled.

From DATAR to the FP-6000 -- a history of the FP-6000

Canadian Pioneer -- ahead of its time