Founded in 1940 and consisting at that time of S.J. Cherry & Sons and the T.H. Taylor Co. Ltd. (flour millers and grain dealers in south-western Ontario), and Robinson Cone (ice cream cone, straw and packaging manufacturers in Hamilton), Dover Industries Limited was the first diversified Canadian company.

The Company grew its packaging business in 1956 with the purchase of Filey Hall Paper Box Company Limited (Toronto, Ontario), followed by the acquisition in 1960 of Howell Lithographic Company Limited (Hamilton, Ontario). Later in 1960 Dover Industries Limited formed Howell Litho and Cartons by combining the packaging businesses with Robinson Cone's carton division. The packaging business moved to Burlington, Ontario in 1967 and was subsequently sold in 2005.

Dover Industries Limited erected a flour mill in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1968 as a wholly owned subsidiary, Dover Mills Limited.

In 1981 the Company purchased Bondware, a division of Continental Can that manufactured paper cups and containers in Etobicoke, Ontario. In 2001, the Cup operation moved to its current location in Brampton, Ontario.

Dover Industries Limited purchased Halton Flour Milling Inc. located in Acton, Ontario in 2003. In 2007 the Corporation purchased the flour milling assets of Dawn Foods (Canada) Ltd in Humboldt and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Food Products Division is now composed of the Cambridge, Halifax, Halton and Saskatchewan mills as well as the Cone operation.

Dover Industries Limited is a public company with 475 employees and the shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol DVI.