Benjamin joined the Havemeyers and Elder refinery, considered at the time the most modern sugar plant in the United States.

Vancouver was the last stop of the Canadian Pacific Railway on the west coast, and he believed the city could be a center of development in Western Canada with an as yet untapped market for processed sugar.

"The Montreal refineries, owing to the peculiar tariff laws of Canada, draw their supply of raw sugar from the cheapest and most distant market, largely from Manila," Rogers continued.

Sugar barrel manufacturer Lowell M. Palmer arranged for Rogers to meet William Cornelius Van Horne, who was the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Van Horne was happy to do whatever it took to encourage development at the western terminus of his railway line, so he strongly supported Rogers’ plan.

Along with several of his fellow directors of the CPR, including Richard Bladworth Angus, Sir Donald Alexander Smith, Edmund Boyd Osler, and Wilmot Deloui Matthews, Van Horne purchased shares in Rogers’ sugar refinery, which became known as the British Columbia Sugar Refining Company.

Initial orders of sugar cane was imported through ocean going vessels from the European colonies in the East Indies, including the Philippines and island of Java.

Beginning 1913, part of its success was the popularity of Rogers' Golden Syrup using the by-product of the refining process of cane.

Rogers became a wealthy man from the enterprise, building two mansions which are landmarks today; Gabriola on Davie Street, and Shannon on Granville.