James Whalen (1869 – 1929) was a Canadian businessperson and entrepreneur based in Port Arthur, Ontario, now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario, with interests in the forest industries, shipbuilding, dredging, and towing. He began as a timber contractor in the 1890s, he built an impressive business empire in various Great Lakes marine businesses. With the help of his brothers he was less successful in entering the competitive British Columbia pulp and paper business that went bankrupt in 1925.