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1. Industrialization | 2. Urbanization | 3. Living Conditions | 4. World Wars | 5. Politics and Social Movements

1. INDUSTRIALIZATION

1. INDUSTRIALIZATION

1.1 The Meaning of Industrialization

1) What were the origins of industrialization?

In 17th-century England, capitalists were starting to bring workers together in large buildings, called manufactures, to make various products. In the latter half of the 18th century, when machines were added to the concentration of workers and capital, it became possible to speak of the beginnings of industrialization. It was an in-depth transformation, indeed a revolution, in the way goods were produced. Industrialization spread, at greatly varying rates, into different sectors of the economy and different countries.? [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 232.

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2) How did the shift from craft to industrial production take place?

"In the era of craft production, a pair of shoes, a saw or a piece of fabric would be produced by lone artisans who performed each of the necessary tasks by hand. The manufacturing era arrived when entrepreneurs began to organize large numbers of workers in shops, or manufactures, paying them a wage for their labour. Here, the production of a product was divided into small tasks that could be accomplished by individual workers, making for more efficient, streamlined production.

"With workers grouped in this way, and work divided into smaller tasks, the way was clear for machines to take over some of these tasks, partially replacing human labour: industrial production was born." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 232.

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3) What were the effects on workers?

"Since tasks were more elementary, industrial work did not require workers to go through a long apprenticeship, as artisans had done. Machines lessened the physical force necessary to accomplish them, and so entrepreneurs began to hire an increasing number of children and adolescent girls, whom they paid much lower wages than men. Nevertheless, the work remained arduous - and sometimes dangerous. The new, less-skilled workers were less capable of defending themselves against exploitation, which was often intense. That, coupled with mechanization, enabled entrepreneurs to produce more at a lower cost, and thus to lower the sale price on many products while keeping profits high." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 232.

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4) What were the major technological developments giving rise to industrialization?

"Industrial production grew out of important technological discoveries that had far-reaching effects on society.

Major Technological Developments, 1704-1913

1704 Newcomen's steam engine developed. His steam pumps were of particular use in mining.

1764 Invention of the spinning jenny.

1760s James Watt improves the steam engine.

1784 Cort's puddling process permits the production of wrought iron.

1825 First freight and passenger railway built by George Stephenson.

1837 Invention of Davenport's electric motor.

1838 The steamship Great Western crosses the Atlantic in fourteen days. This was the beginning of transatlantic steamship travel.

1844 First demonstration of the telegraph.

1846 Development of the sewing machine.

1851 Crystal Palace exhibition [Montreal].

1856 Bessemer's converter reduces the cost of steel production.

1859 Victoria Bridge over the St. Lawrence completed [Montreal].

1866 Transatlantic telegraph cable laid across Atlantic.

1872 Refrigerator railway cars used to transport meat and fruit.

1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.

1884 First electric trolley in service.

1885 Canadian Pacific Railway completed to the Pacific.

1886 First automobile developed by Carl Benz using a gas engine.

1894 Steam-power-driven flight by the Wright brothers.

1903 Sustained power-driven flight by the Wright brothers.

1906 Vacuum tube invented.

1913 Henry Ford's assembly line begins production of automobiles."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 190, 195.

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1.2 The First Phase of Industrialization (circa 1846 - 1896)

5) How did industrialization get started in Canada?

"Setting up a factory demanded capital and technological know-how. From the early 19th century onward, the acceleration of economic activity in Canada produced a class of entrepreneurs who accumulated capital, founded banks, and built ties with English and American capitalists. With the coming of Confederation, they controlled a market that provided an abundant supply of both labour and consumers. In terms of technology, Canada had the advantage of being able to borrow from Great Britain and the United States, two countries in the vanguard of industrialization with which it had especially close ties." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 233.

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6) Where did industrialization first take root in Canada, and why?

It was in Montreal, in the late 1840s, that Canadian industry really got underway. The redesign of the Lachine Canal freed up the water resources necessary to operate the machines in the factories being established on its banks. The extension of Canada's territory, the building of the railways, specialization in agriculture and a protectionist trade policy gave further impetus to this movement. Little by little, factories appeared in the environs of Montreal: in Hochelaga, Saint-Henri, Valleyfield, Saint-Hyacinthe, and Saint-Jean, but also in the Eastern Townships and the Quebec City region. [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 233.

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7) What were the major industries of Quebec during the second half of the 19th century?

"Food. This was the largest and most important industry in Quebec. It was highly diversified, including flour mills, sugar refineries, breweries, bakeries, and butter and cheese factories. Small and large enterprises coexisted.

"Shoes. Shoemaking was the second largest manufacturing industry in Quebec at that time. This industry was radically transformed with mechanization. Quebec's factories dominated the Canadian market. Concentrations of large factories in Montreal and Quebec City provided jobs for thousands of workers.

"Textiles. Everywhere, large cotton mills sprang up. They often employed thousands of people, including a considerable female workforce. By the end of the century, these companies were merging to form very large corporations. Clothing manufacturing was also important, but it tended to be organized differently, with much of the work done by women at home; as a result, it was dispersed among a large number of small companies.

"Montreal was also a major producer of cigars and cigarettes, and this industry, too, employed women and children. These industries all had a common feature: they relied on abundant, poorly paid, unskilled labour. These light industries, the producers of consumer goods, tended to serve the local and Canadian markets, which were the most vital for Quebec industry as a whole.

"In parallel with these industries was the development of what is called heavy industry, involving the processing of raw materials. An example was the steel industry, which produced and/or maintained such items as boilers, railroad track, nails and rolling stock (locomotives, wagons). The Grand Trunk and the Canadian Pacific established their shops in Montreal. They employed thousands of workers, many of them highly skilled: machinists, moulders, etc. Heavy industry constituted an essential dimension of Quebec's industrial structure.

"To these industries may be added that of woodworking: the making of boards, boxes, barrels, doors, frames and so forth. The sawmills which dotted the landscape exported some of their production to the United States.

"In the late 19th century, Quebec's process of industrialization was well underway, and by 1896 the value of manufacturing production exceeded that of agriculture." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 233-234.

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PERCENTAGE OF QUEBEC MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION PRODUCED BY THE MAIN INDUSTRIES, 1870 AND 1890

Industries	1870	1890
Food	24,2	22,6
Tobacco	1,9	2,3
Leather	18,6	12,3
Textile	1,7	2,8
Clothing	7,6	8,9
Lumber	15,1	12,1
Pulp and Paper	0,7	1,5
Iron and Steel	4,1	5,0
Printing and Publishing	1,6	1,5
Rolling Stock	3,8	6,5
Other	20,7	24,5

Source: J. Hamelin and Y. Roby, Histoire économique du Québec, 1851?1896. [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 235.

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8) How did industrialization develop in the Maritimes?

"The Maritimes, too, showed signs of industrialization, though the trend was less pronounced than in the United Province of Canada. Of the few industrial establishments, the most important were in the shipbuilding industry, which was at its height in the mid-19th century. In the 1850s, an average of 374 ships a year emerged from the region's yards. Between 1860 and 1866, average annual production reached 470 ships. In the region's manufactures, however, the production volume never approached that of the United Province of Canada." [transl.]

Couturier, Jacques Paul. L'expérience canadienne, des origines à nos jours, Moncton, Éditions d'Acadie, 1994, p. 160-161.

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9) What was the status of industrialization in the West?

"Only one large region of the British possessions remained untouched by the revolution sweeping over industry and transportation: the Pacific Northwest. During that era, the West was relatively uninhabited, its population consisting overwhelmingly of Indians plus a few fur traders and explorers. These territories were within the domain of the Hudson's Bay Company, which banned agricultural development in order to preserve the fur resources (?) At the far western extremity of the British territories was the small colony of Vancouver Island, founded in 1849, as well as the British Columbia region. Apart from forestry, which was essentially limited to tree felling and shipping, these young colonies showed hardly any appreciable industrial activity. The main exception was the 'Gold Rush,' leading in 1858 to the discovery of gold deposits by prospectors in the Fraser Valley." [transl.]

Couturier, Jacques Paul. L'expérience canadienne, des origines à nos jours. Moncton, Éditions d'Acadie, 1994, p. 161.

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10) How was gold first discovered in British Columbia?

Then, in late 1857, a Hudson's Bay Company trader arrived in Fort Victoria. Along with his cargo of furs for the Company, he carried two vials filled with gold dust and some small nuggets that he had panned along the banks of the Thompson River. He presented these to Governor Douglas, who examined them one night at dinner. Douglas believed that news of another gold strike would unleash an influx of greedy miners into colony. His fear was borne out during the winter of 1857-58. Miners who had moved to Washington and Oregon after the California rush had ended moved north to the banks of the Thompson and Fraser rivers, and began prospecting for gold. Most discovered that the best sources for easily found gold were on the sandbars along both rivers.?

Cranny, Michael et al. Horizons. Canada Moves West, Scarborough, Ont., Prentice Hall Ginn Canada, 1999, p. 217.

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11) What were the first industrial and community-oriented activities of the Vancouver area?

When colonel Moody arrived in New Westminster, it was clear that the Fraser River froze during winter months. He knew this was a problem - defending the colony required access to an ice-free harbour. He ordered three trails to be cut from New Westminster to Burrad Inlet. He also set aside land on the Inlet as military reserves, in case the British Government decided that the harbour needed protection.

In the early 1860s, Vancouver remained as it had been for thousands of years - the home of the Musqueam and Squamish peoples. By 1865, the area was changing. The Hastings Sawmill opened on the south side of the Inlet, and the company obtained timber rights to much of the southern peninsula. It eventually controlled some 19 000 acres. On the north side of the Inlet, Sewell Moody also opened a mill, in an area that is now North Vancouver. The mill and the surrounding community eventually became known as Moodyville at the time. Moody's Mill began logging Lynn Valley, specializing in "tooth-picks," for sailing masts. These were logs that were free of knots and that measured 21 metres long and 4 metres in diameter. Until the 1880s, trees were transported on greased log tracks that were called "skid roads" to tidewater. From here, they were floated to the two mills for processing.

In 1868, colourful "Gassy Jack" Deighton arrived on the Inlet. Because Hastings Mill was officially dry, Gassy Jack opened a saloon about a kilometre-and-a-half away from the mill, much to the relief of the mill workers. Soon other saloons and stores appeared around Deighton's saloon, and the little settlement, officially known as "Granville," was known to all as "Gastown," after its founder."

Cranny, Michael et al. Horizons. Canada Moves West, Scarborough, Ont., Prentice Hall Ginn Canada, 1999, p. 230-231.

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12) What role did the railways play in the industrialization of Canada?

"Although the 1840s were the heyday of canal construction in Canada, another form of transportation was already emerging. Steam engines rolling along iron tracks provided a good means of moving freight on a year-round basis. Railways were faster than boats and were not restricted to water routes. New engineering techniques in tunnel and bridge construction, such as those used to build the Victoria Bridge linking Montreal to the south shore of the St. Lawrence (?) gave the railway tremendous flexibility. In 1846, railways were chartered to join Montreal and Portland, Maine. This gave Montreal access to a port that was open year-round.

"Railways were an important part of the transition to industrial capitalism. The need for railway equipment and rolling stock stimulated new forms of 'heavy' manufacturing, particularly in the steel sector. Railways opened up new areas for colonization that became important markets and sources of food for urban workers. Railways were also important to the forest regions. Along with steam-powered sawmills, they helped to provide the vast amounts of sawn lumber that were needed in the expanding American markets. The railway was also a centralizing influence and an important factor in Confederation. Railway construction demanded large amounts of capital, and foreign investors wanted security for their investment. It was the Canadian government that would guarantee the bonds of many Canadian railway companies and would offer land and subsidies to make bonds more attractive."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 196, 198.

"In 1867 Canada had only 3,644 km of railways. By 1900 this had risen to 28,251 km, and in 1914 to 49,272 km. The construction of the Grand Trunk Railways in the 1850s and 1860s was followed by the completion in 1885 of Canada's first transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific. Many feeder lines and two other transcontinental railways were built in the following years. These railways had an enormous impact on the growth of communities, on the development of manufacturing, and on markets and prices for farmers.

"Railways were central to the economic development of Quebec. For this reason, Quebecers were as anxious as other Canadians to establish a favourable environment for railway promoters. The provincial government invested heavily in railways and gave railway builders enormous subsidies of Crown lands. More than half of the business of the provincial legislature from 1875 to 1878 concerned railways, and Quebec made financial commitments to railways far beyond those made in Ontario.

"Within Quebec, the construction of a railway from Quebec City to Montreal and points west was a particular problem. Both Quebec City and Montreal wanted to be the eastern terminal and port for the Canadian Pacific Railway."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 234-236.

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13) How was the location of the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus determined in British Columbia?

Until the mid 1880s, there was little other activity on Burrard Inlet. In 1881, Port Moody (named after Colonel Moody), was designated as the terminus of the CPR. At once, the focus of activity shifted to the eastern end of the Inlet. Speculators quickly bought up land, and surveyed and sold lots, eager to cash in on the future metropolis.

In 1884, William Van Horne arrived in Port Moody to establish the exact location of the CPR terminus. To his dismay, he discovered that the harbour was made up of tidal flats. It could not possibly accommodate deep-sea vessels, which needed to dock, and load and unload cargo. He travelled further down the Inlet to Gastown, and found what he was looking for?a deep-water anchorage with an expanse of flat land ideal for rail yards. He named the site Vancouver. Of course, the Port Moody speculators were outraged, but there was nothing they could do.

In late 1885, the CPR was completed and the future townsite of Vancouver laid out. Now development could begin in earnest. However, on June 13, 1886, a spell of hot, dry weather suddenly made the land-clearing and the slash-burning extremely dangerous. A catastrophic fire levelled the new city in under an hour. Despite this setback, Vancouver was rebuilt quickly, and by the end of 1890, the new city had a population of more than 5000.?

Cranny, Michael et al. Horizons. Canada Moves West, Scarborough, Ont., Prentice Hall Ginn Canada, 1999, p. 231.

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1.3 The Second Phase of Industrialization (circa 1896 - 1936)

14) What is meant by the "second phase of industrialization"?

"Natural resource exploitation and electricity had a considerable impact on Quebec and Canadian society. Whole regions became industrialized, which worked a profound transformation in the living conditions of their inhabitants. The new wave of industrialization, based on natural resource processing, has often been referred to as a second industrial revolution. It was distinguished from the older industrialization arising in the second half of the 19th century, which was based on the production of consumer goods and equipment. But this first phase of industrialization did not die out in the early 20th century; on the contrary, it continued in full swing." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 275-276.

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15) What major trends characterized Canada's economy at the turn of the 20th century?

"Canada's industry had the wind in its sails at the turn of the century. The growth of domestic markets stimulated the extraction of natural resources, which the land had in abundance. Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia became large producers of ore, lumber, wood pulp and hydroelectric power. These products drove the Canadian processing industries, thus augmenting the volume of exports to the United States. To facilitate the extraction of raw materials, it became necessary to improve the transportation system by building more roads, railways and ships. Consequently, heavy industry, a major consumer of raw materials, also benefited from the economic expansion.

"The increasing, largely rural population of the West created new needs that Canadian industries hastened to fill (?). Each new colonist was a potential buyer of ploughing implements and basic consumer goods. In this context, tariff barriers proved to be very profitable for Ontario and Quebec industrialists, whose manufacturing sector had a long lead over its competitors in other parts of the country. Thanks to this, their central location on the railway network, and their more frequent use of advertising, they developed a national market for their products.

"With the intensified exploitation of its abundant resources and the rapid growth of its population, Canada offered great potential to Canadian and foreign investors. The United States was soon the largest supplier of foreign capital, supplanting even Great Britain. The federal government, too, directly invested in the economy, and encouraged businesses to do likewise. And the provincial and municipal governments got into the act as well; for example, they attempted to attract industrialists by offering bonuses, subsidies and guarantees. This practice stimulated the creation of banks and financial institutions." [transl.]

Couturier, Jacques Paul. L'expérience canadienne, des origines à nos jours, Moncton, Éditions d'Acadie, 1994, p. 239-240.

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16) What were some subsequent developments in the industrialization of Quebec?

"The first decades of the twentieth century were marked by industrial growth. In the nineteenth century, Quebec's industries had been based on cheap labour. At the beginning of the twentieth century, natural resources played an increasingly important role and led to the growth of many regions outside the main cities. With its many rivers, Quebec quickly became a major producer of hydroelectric power."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 270.

"Everywhere, existing factories were expanding and new ones were being set up to meet the needs of a fast-growing population. Montreal, for example, which produced neither newsprint nor aluminum, saw its population grow appreciably, and it remained the main industrial hub of Quebec and Canada. Furthermore, its industrial structure was enriched with the addition of new sectors, such as electrical appliance manufacturing and petroleum processing." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 275-276.

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17) What role did the Maritimes and the West play in industrialization?

"Canada's industries (?) were concentrated in central Canada. As a result, the Maritimes and the West were forced into dependence: they developed as consumer markets and exporters of natural resources. These regions imported manufactured goods such as clothing and farm machinery, and processed food such as sugar while exporting their wheat, coal and fish. Much of the country's production was still exported (?). This was particularly true in Quebec, where the mining and pulp-and-paper industries grew rapidly."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 271.

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18) What type of energy was used in Quebec?

"The most spectacular example (of transformations in the natural resources sector) was that of electricity, which was being produced and distributed by the 1880s thanks to numerous American and European inventions. At first, electricity was generated by burning coal, but it was not long before people discovered that it could be done advantageously by using the power of waterfalls to turn turbines. Soon, construction began on large dams and hydroelectric power plants. Quebec, on the strength of its numerous rivers, rapidly became an important producer of this new form of power." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 275.

"Quebec's growth during this period was largely a result of exploiting hydroelectric resources. Electricity was first used commercially at the end of the 1870s. As its uses for industries and urban-transport systems increased, bigger generating plants and turbines were needed. A power station was built at Niagara Falls in the 1890s, and the technology to transmit electricity 32 km to Buffalo, New York, was developed.

"The Shawinigan Water and Power Company was established in 1898. The falls at Shawinigan, a lumber town on the Saint-Maurice River, had a drop of 41 m and were only 134 km from Montreal. With American capital, 1,800 daytime workers and 200 nighttime workers built the generating plant and the dam. (?) Aluminum, pulp and paper, and chemical plants were built around the site to use the cheap electrical power, and in 1902, the hydro lines reached Montreal."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 272-273.

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19) What was the role of the pulp and paper industry?

"Pulp and paper production was Canada's largest industry by 1925. Newsprint production tripled between 1913 and 1920, and then tripled again before 1929. Ninety percent of Canadian newsprint production was exported, largely to American newspaper markets. The pulp and paper mill at Chicoutimi (?) is a good example of how the industry developed. The mill was constructed in response to growing international markets and the development of new technology for using wood fiber in paper production. In addition to its huge spruce and poplar forests, the Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean region was well suited to the pulp and paper industry because of its hydroelectric power sites, deep-sea shipping port, and railway connections to American markets. Started by a local entrepreneur, Alfred Dubuc, the Chicoutimi mill became part of the North American Pulp and Paper Company in 1915."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, a History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 273.

"In the past, paper had been made from rags or plants, but the invention of grinders in the second half of the 19th century made it possible to use the wood from trees. After being ground, it was processed to make wood pulp. Newsprint, in particular, is made from the wood of the spruce tree, an abundant species in Quebec. The growth of the large US daily newspapers created strong demand for this type of paper, and to satisfy it, a number of companies, many of them American, built pulp mills in Quebec. These were located along watercourses in forested country, in parts of Quebec considered to be frontier regions.

(?)

"Pulp or paper mills were built in the Mauricie and the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions, as well as in the Gaspé Peninsula, the Quebec City region, the Eastern Townships, the Ottawa Valley and Témiscamingue. They were now an integral part of the Quebec landscape. The same phenomenon occurred in other Canadian provinces, mainly Ontario, New Brunswick and British Columbia, but they never rivaled Quebec in terms of production volume. In this way, Canada became the world's largest exporter of newsprint." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 275-276.

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20) How did natural resource exploitation contribute to industrialization?

"Another key Quebec industry - aluminum smelting - had its beginnings in the province between 1900 and 1930. The basic raw material, called bauxite, was imported from Guyana. Processing this material into aluminum takes a lot of electricity, and for this reason, aluminum smelters were located near large waterfalls, in cities like Shawinigan and Arvida. Their construction also required large amounts of capital, which mostly came from the United States." [transl.]

Charpentier, Louise, René Durocher, Christian Laville and Paul-André Linteau. Nouvelle histoire du Québec et du Canada, Anjou, Centre éducatif et Culturel, 1990, p. 275.

"As aluminum, copper, asbestos and nickel gained new importance in electrical, chemical and automobile production, the Canadian mining industry also expanded rapidly. Alcan, the major producer of Canadian aluminum, was founded as a Canadian branch plant of the Aluminum Company of America in 1902. The company helped to develop the massive hydroelectric resources of the Saguenay in the 1920s and built a refinery in its new company town of Arvida. By 1936 Alcan by then largely Canadian owned was the world's second-largest aluminum producer.

"Canada's asbestos mines were located in the Eastern Townships at centres such as Thetford Mines (?). Asbestos production grew from over 36,000 tonnes in 1900 to almost 280,000 tonnes in 1929. Of this, 70 percent was exported to the United States, where asbestos fiber was used to manufacture fire-resistant cloth, roofing materials, paint, paper and brake linings.

"Gold and copper mining in Quebec became of world importance in the 1920s as mines opened in the Abitibi region around Rouyn. The development of natural resources thus brought industry to rural areas (?)."

Dickinson, John A. and Brian Young. Diverse Pasts, A History of Québec and Canada, Mississauga, Copp Clark, 1995, p. 274.

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21) What position did the forest industry occupy in the British Columbia economy?

"Nearly 45 percent of all wood logged in Canada is logged in British Columbia. The Western Mountains account for only 14 percent of Canada's forested land, but 40 percent of Canada merchantable timber. The forest industry is the largest segment of British Columbia's economy. Since the late 1800s, British Columbia wood has been shipped around the world. By the mid-1990s, the total value of all forest products exported from British Columbia was $1.5 billion. Logging and the manufacture of forest products provide more employment and contribute more value-added than other industrial sector in British Columbia. Today the industry employs about 30 000 people in jobs ranging from logging to furniture manufacturing.

"[...] The forest industry has always followed the ups and downs of the economic cycle. It lays off workers when times are lean and the demand for housing and forest products goes down. It hires more workers when the economy is booming. Now, however, people are thinking of the industry and the forest itself in the long term, hoping that trees can be a resource for all time."

Cranny, Michael et al. Horizons. Canada Moves West, Scarborough, Ont., Prentice Hall Ginn Canada, 1999, p. 353.

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22) What was the impact of mechanization on agriculture at the start of the 20th century?

"Canadian farms were also being changed by technology. Labour-saving machinery was adopted by many large farms, and when the new devices were too expensive for individual farmers to own, families banded together and rented machines or shared the purchase cost. Gasoline tractors were becoming more common, and motorized threshers, reapers, and hay mowers made productivity skyrocket. A farmer could mow forty times as much hay in a day as his father could have, and he could harvest a bushel of wheat in 1 percent of the time.

"Factories were also now part of the farming process. A generation before, items like dairy products and fruit were processed on the farm, usually by women. After the nineteenth century, these products were increasingly sent off to factories for processing and canning. By 1901, for example, 40 percent of Canadian cheese came from factories."

Newman, Garfield. Canada: a Nation Unfolding, Toronto, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2000, p. 49.

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1. INDUSTRIALIZATION

1.1 The Meaning of Industrialization.

1.2 The First Phase of Industrialization (circa 1846-1896)

1.3 The Second Phase of Industrialization (circa 1896-1936)

1. INDUSTRIALIZATION

1.1 The Meaning of Industrialization

1.2 The First Phase of Industrialization (circa 1846 - 1896)

1.3 The Second Phase of Industrialization (circa 1896 - 1936)