In 1836, he became involved in the "Kingston Stave Forwarding Company" with John Counter and an American, Hiram Cook, (later, in 1838 it became, "Calvin and Cook") and, in 1844, moved to Garden Island in Canada West because the location was the most ideal to collect and raft timber that was to be forwarded down the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Garden Island location was ideal because Calvin could operate within the British (Commonwealth) system. Further, the location, at the foot of the Great Lakes, provided a sheltered bay for building rafts of timber and for access to retrieve the bound rafts.