The feds had a deal with certain companies to push asbestos shingles on to veterans of WWII who built starter homes in Canada in the 1940's and 50's. There are still a number of the pill box-style homes across the country which still have asbestos slate shingles on them. The house my father built in 1946 was covered with asbestos shingles. They didn't hold paint very well, and the asbestos fibers would surface after a few years of weathering.

Lots of Canadians working in old steel and paper mills have been exposed to asbestos wrappings around pipes and structural steel over the years.