Industrialization And Urbanization In Canada

At the turn of the century, primary industries such as farming, lumbering, and fishing were all thriving. With the development in the primary industries the demand for secondary industries emerged and so railroads, shipbuilding’s, and roads were built. The boom in both industries were all thanks to the maturation of the national policy. This policy was an economic program that used high tariffs on imported good to protect the manufacturing industry. The growth of industrialization and urbanization brought tremendous development to Canada because of the expansion of the railroads as well as the settlement of Canadians in the west. Winnipeg earned the name Hub city considering its central location as well as its access to 3 transcontinental railways.

The industrial growth in large urban cities generated a bigger population those of whom were mostly farmers that emigrated. The primary beneficiary of this was the new developing middle class but this prosperity didn’t trickle down to the thousands of Canadians who worked in factories with poor working conditions.
Before World War 1 Winnipeg was recognized as the third largest manufacturing city in Canada.

This meant that urbanization and industrialization was also trending towards the west successfully and that the development of Toronto and Montreal didn’t overshadow the process. The population of Winnipeg increased approximately seven times between 1890 and 1920 which is a result of large scale immigration (Francis, Jones, and Smith 137). This major increase in population was parallel with one of the main objectives in the national policy which was to settle more people in western Canada. The city of Winnipeg also produced its own agricultural material and, in exchange, they sold building tools to settlers such as lumber, bricks, and steel (Francis, Jones, and Smith 140). Ultimately this presented an opportunity to not only continue growing economies in the west but also to contribute to Canada’s growth as a

whole.
The building of new infrastructure such as the transcontinental railway spanning the country from east to west provided Canada with 55 thousand kilometers of track. This inevitably created jobs and also brought hundreds of immigrants west. The increase of settlement in the west required natural resources from eastern markets such as agricultural goods and common household tools (Francis, Jones, and Smith 140). In addition the railroads changed lives for farmers because small towns were built around railroad station which provided farmers a place where they could go to buy supplies and manufactured goods. The economic expansion of Canada was finally on the right track thanks in large part to the construction of new infrastructure.
Unfortunately a higher standard of living wasn’t available to all Canadians.

In fact many women and children worked long hours in very poor working conditions. There was no medical coverage to pay for doctors or pension plans to help individuals once they’ve retied. In addition during this period job security didn’t exist and layoffs were very common especially during the slower winter months (Francis, Jones, and Smith 155). These harsh condition prove that even working class citizen weren’t presented with the opportunity to live life in prosperity. The obvious issues paved the way for the government to create social services such as Unions, charitable organizations, and social institutions. Most of these institutions provided relief to about two to three thousand working class citizen in their respective city (Francis, Jones, and Smith 160). But even with this minimal help the working class did not enjoy life in

prosperity.
In conclusion, the evolution of industrialization and urbanization did manage to bring prosperity to Canada. However in regards to Canadians not everyone was rewarded with a higher standard of living especially the working class who were unfortunately given the short end of the stick. Winnipeg benefited in a big way once it was established as the gateway to the west and the population increased thanks in part to large scale immigration. During this period of time the economic development of Canada gave birth to a new class of citizen which are now called the middle class. This class was not poor nor were they rich. The middle class citizens were able to feed their families, shelter them, and most importantly provided of sense of security during these tough times. Once the intercontinental railways were built it paid dividends for Canada because resources were movable to either part of the country. In addition settlers also benefited because the west was in need of people and the railway gave them access to immigrants there. Ultimately the working class didn’t achieve this higher standard of living but social services were created to provide the essential needs in order to survive.