Near the end of his career, he referred to "my Canada Friends, to whose favours I principally owe my present happy circumstances".
[1] During the period of military government of Canada, when severe restrictions were placed on the fur trade, Strettell was one of the London merchants who signed petitions to the Colonial Office, seeking relaxation of the regulations.
He represented the "Canada merchants" who petitioned for the abolition of the Stamp Act and other offensive duties in 1765,[2] and he led the effort to remove James Murray from the governorship of Quebec.
[3] When the Northwest fur trade, into the present western Canada, was re-established in the late 1760s and after, John Strettell provided the goods for some of the most important traders.
These two partnerships, forming the earliest version of the North West Company, were the most energetic in the Northwest fur trade in the years just before the American Revolution.
Soon after, his health began to fail, and he arranged for his Canada and other business to be transferred to a new partnership between his long-time chief clerk, John Brickwood, and a returned East India employee, Thomas Pattle.