Technological and industrial history of Canada
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The technological and industrial history of Canada encompasses the country's development in the areas of
transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
,
communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
, energy, materials,
public work Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
s,
public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
s (
health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
), domestic/consumer and defense technologies. Most technologies diffused in Canada came from other places; only a small number actually originated in Canada. For more about those with a Canadian origin, see Invention in Canada. The terms chosen for the "age" described below are both literal and metaphorical. They describe the technology that dominated the period in question but are also representative of a large number of other technologies introduced during the same period. Also of note is the fact that the period of diffusion of a technology can begin modestly and can extend well beyond the "age" of its introduction. To maintain continuity, the treatment of its diffusion is dealt with in the context of its dominant "age". For example, the "Steam Age" here is defined as being from 1840 to 1880. However, steam-powered boats were introduced in 1809, the CPR was completed in 1885 and railway construction in Canada continued well into the 20th century. To preserve continuity, the development of steam, in the early and later years, is therefore considered within the "Steam Age". Technology is a major cultural determinant, no less important in shaping human lives than philosophy, religion, social organization, or political systems. In the broadest sense, these forces are also aspects of technology. The French sociologist
Jacques Ellul Jacques Ellul (; ; January 6, 1912 – May 19, 1994) was a French philosopher, sociologist, lay theologian, and professor who was a noted Christian anarchist. Ellul was a longtime Professor of History and the Sociology of Institutions on t ...
defined "''la technique''" as the totality of all rational methods in every field of human activity so that, for example, education, law, sports, propaganda, and the social sciences are all technologies in that sense. At the other end of the scale, common parlance limits the term's meaning to specific industrial arts.


The Stone Age: Fire (14,000 BC – AD 1600)

The diffusion of technology in what is now Canada began with the arrival of the first
humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
about 14,000 BC. These people brought with them
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
and
bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...
tools. These took the form of
arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...
s,
axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...
s,
blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...
s, scrappers, needles, harpoon heads and
fishhook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by impa ...
s used mostly to kill animals and
fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
for food and skins. They also brought
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
, which they used for heating their dwellings and for cooking which was done on open fires. There were no
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
pots or ovens. In the Arctic, the
Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...
used stick frames covered with animal skins for shelter during the summer months, while they built houses made of snow or
igloo An igloo (Inuit languages: , Inuktitut syllabics (plural: )), also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of suitable snow. Although igloos are often associated with all Inuit, they were traditionally used only b ...
s during the harsh winter. On the plains, native peoples used the well known
teepee A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
. This consisted of a number of poles arranged to form a conical structure which was in turn covered with animal skins. In central Canada, the
long house A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...
was popular. This large structure was built from interwoven branches and could house 70 to 80 people. Several of these structures would be built together to form a village which was often surrounded by a palisade of logs stuck vertically into the ground as protection from hostile tribes. On the west coast, native peoples constructed dwellings made from heavy timber. These structures were built near the water's edge and were often decorated with elaborate and elegant carved images. Transportation techniques were simple. The aboriginal peoples did not have the wheel, horses or the sail. The paddle powered
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...
was the most common means of transport and was especially practical during the summer, considering the large number of lakes and rivers that characterized the topography. The dugout was favoured in the waters off the west coast. Summer travel also saw use of the
travois A travois (; Canadian French, from French , a frame for restraining horses; also obsolete travoy or travoise) is a historical frame structure that was used by indigenous peoples, notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America, to drag loads ov ...
, a simple type of sled that was pulled over the ground by a dog and used to transport a light load. In the winter
snow shoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...
s made walking in the deep snow practical. Winter transport in the Arctic made use of
dog team A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transport ...
s, and in warmer summer months, use of
kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...
s was common. Clothing was made of animal skins, which were cut with stone and bone tools and sewn with bone needles and animal sinews. Native peoples did not have textiles. For the most part native peoples were hunters and gatherers, chasing large animals, and fishing for a source of protein. Wild plants and fruits were also an important food source. A common, easily stored and readily transportable food was
pemmican Pemmican (also pemican in older sources) is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous ...
, dried powdered meat mixed with fat, berries and "vegetables". In central Canada, there was limited
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
which allowed the storage of some food during times of privation. Of note was the fact that they did not have the plough or draught animals. The first peoples had techniques for dealing with disease. Medicines included those made from high bush cranberries, oil of wintergreen and bloodroot. A type of tea made from the bark of the spruce or hemlock could prevent or cure
scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...
. The first peoples did not have a written language. Their extensive knowledge of the natural world and information relating to their customs and traditions was passed orally. Weapons of war were made by hand from wood and stone. The long range weapon of these times was the
bow and arrow The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles ( arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the practice was comm ...
with an effective range of up to 100 metres. Close in fighting was conducted with a range of simple armaments including stone-tipped spears, stone axes ( tomahawks), stone blades used as knives and stone and wooden clubs of various types. Because there was no knowledge of metalworking with the exception of some small items of jewelry made from copper, weapons such as swords and metal knives were not part of this early arsenal.


The Age of Sail (1600-1830)

The arrival of white explorers and colonists in the 16th century introduced those technologies popular in Europe at the time, such as iron making, the wheel, writing, paper,
printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
, books, newspapers, long range navigation, large
ship construction Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
, stone and brick and mortar construction, surgery,
firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
, new crops, livestock, the knife fork and spoon, china plates and cups,
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
and
linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
cloth, horses and
livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...
.


Transportation: shipbuilding and the wheel

The use of wind and water as sources of power were major developments in the technological history of the new colonies. Ships with large masts and huge canvas sails maintained the link between the colonies.
Jean Talon Jean Talon, Count d'Orsainville (; January 8, 1626 – November 23, 1694) was a French colonial administrator who served as the first Intendant of New France. Talon was appointed by King Louis XIV and his minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to ...
established the Royal Dockyard on the St. Charles River in Quebec City and the first 120-ton vessel was launched there in 1666. Three other ships, including a 450-ton "galiotte", were built before Talon's departure for France in 1672 and four more were built in Quebec between 1704 and 1712 followed by another nine between 1714 and 1717. Work at the Royal Dockyard recommenced in 1739 and by 1744, twelve vessels had been constructed there, including the ''Canada'', a 500-ton merchantman. Demand for ships was such that a second Royal Dockyard was established in 1746, on the St. Lawrence at the foot of Cap Diamante, where the largest vessel of the French Regime, a 72-gun, 800-ton war ship was built. The fall of New France to the British in 1759 put an end to these activities. However, the beginning of the 19th century witnessed a revival. The British loss of the American colonies with their associated shipbuilding industry, the subsequent British loss of Baltic sources of timber, as well as Canada's abundant supply of wood along with the tradition of shipbuilding established in New France made British North America an ideal location for a renewed shipbuilding industry. Quebec City and Saint John, New Brunswick, both centres of timber export also became dominant centres for this activity not only in Canada but worldwide. The ships intended for trade, mostly with Britain and common designs, included the two-masted
brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
and
brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...
, and the popular
barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
, with three masts or more. Designs of between 500 and 1000 tons, which sacrificed speed in favour of a voluminous hold, were well-suited to the carriage of timber and therefore preferred. The Californian and Australian gold rushes of 1848 and 1851 respectively further fed the demand for Canada's large ocean vessels. However, the arrival of the iron and steel-hulled steamship associated with the Canadian inability to adapt to this new technology eventually bankrupted the industry in the latter years of the century. Inland travel by the
coureurs de bois A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; plural: coureurs de(s) bois) was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian trader who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with First Nations peoples by e ...
was by way of an Indian invention, the
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...
. The
York boat The York boat was a type of inland boat used by the Hudson's Bay Company to carry furs and trade goods along inland waterways in Rupert's Land, the watershed stretching from Hudson Bay to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It was named aft ...
and
bateau A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. Th ...
were also popular for travel on inland waters. The York boat was used by traders working for the Hudson's Bay Company and was named after the fur trading post at
York Factory York Factory was a settlement and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) factory (trading post) located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. Yo ...
on Hudson Bay. The York boat was larger, more stable, and had a greater carrying capacity than the canoe. The first was built in 1794 and numbers of these craft navigated the rivers of the northern prairie region as far west as
Fort Chipewyan Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. It is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, approx ...
until replaced by the steamboat in the 19th century. The flat-bottomed bateau was another craft used on Canada's inland waters by both British and French colonists in the 18th and 19th centuries. Within settlements, transport was often simply a matter of walking around town. The horse, introduced by the new arrivals in 1665, also provided a new and convenient mode of transport. The wooden cart, wagon and carriage, made possible by the introduction of the
wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
in combination with the horse, dramatically improved the transport of people and goods. The first graded road in Canada was built by
Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...
in 1606 and linked the settlement at Port Royal to Digby Cape, 16 kilometres away. By 1734 Quebec City and Montreal were connected by a road, Le chemin du roi, along the north shore of the St. Lawrence. The 267 km distance could be traversed with great difficulty and discomfort by horse-drawn carriage in four to five days. Most roads were of very poor quality especially in wet weather. To overcome this problem logs were often placed side by side crosswise to cover ruts, puddles and mud holes. The result was a more solid but very bumpy surface that was referred to as a
corduroy road A corduroy road or log road is a type of road or timber trackway made by placing logs, perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the bes ...
. Work on what would be called the, "longest street in the world", formally known as
Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
, began in York (Toronto), in 1795 under the direction of Deputy Surveyor General
Augustus Jones Augustus Jones ( – November 16, 1836) was an American-born Upper Canadian farmer, land speculator, magistrate, militia captain and surveyor. Jones trained as a surveyor in New York City, and fled as a United Empire Loyalist to Upper Can ...
. Initially a trail, it ran from Eglington Avenue to St. Albans (Holland Landing) and later much further north. The task of widening the path into a road fell to local farmers.Guillet, Edwin C., The Story of Canadian Roads, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1967 The period also saw the construction a number of important canals, including the
Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...
, Ottawa–Kingston, 1820, the
Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French (language), French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroug ...
, Montreal, 1825, the Ottawa River Canals at Grenville and Carillon, Quebec, 1834 and the Chambly Canal, Chambly, Quebec, 1843.


Communication, symbolic language

The introduction of
written language A written language is the representation of a spoken or gestural language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will pick up spoken language or sign language by exposure even i ...
and
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
to the new world was of paramount importance. The 26-letter, Roman-based alphabet that formed the basis for French and English words was arguably much more flexible that the pictographs that characterized eastern languages. The pen along with ink and paper made written communication possible and allowed private individuals, businessmen, the clergy and government officials to produce the documents essential for social, commercial, religious and political intercourse. This created a need for mail service. Messages were originally carried between settlements on the St. Lawrence by canoe. After 1734, the road between Montreal and Quebec was used by a special courier to carry official dispatches. In 1755 a post office was opened in Halifax by Benjamin Franklin, the Post Master of the British colonies, as part of a trans-Atlantic mail service that he established between Falmouth, England and New York. In 1763, Franklin opened other post offices in Quebec City, Trois-Rivières and Montreal with a link from the latter city to New York and the trans-Atlantic service. The War of American Independence seriously disrupted mail service in Canada but by 1783 peace had been restored and Hugh Finlay was appointed Post Master for the northern colonies in 1784. That same year Finlay hired Pierre Durand to survey an all-Canadian mail route to Halifax. The path chosen took 15 weeks for a round trip! Although the written word was a vital part of communications, French colonial policy opposed the establishment of
newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...
in New France. Canada's first paper, the ''Halifax Gazette'', produced on a simple printing press, began publication in 1752 under the watchful eye of John Bushell. In 1764, the ''Quebec Gazette'' was established in Quebec City by William Brown and Thomas Gilmore. The ''Montreal Gazette'' was founded in that city in 1785 by Fleury Mesplet. Other newspapers followed including the ''Upper Canada Gazette'' at Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in 1793, the first newspaper in what is now Ontario, the ''Quebec City Mercury'', 1805, the ''Montreal Herald'', 1811, ''Le Canadien'' 1806, ''La Minerve'', 1826, and the ''Colonial Advocate'' and ''Novascotian'' both in 1824. These publications were simple affairs, typeset by hand, consisting of only a few pages, produced in limited quantities on simple presses and of limited distribution.


Energy

Wind power was used to some to turn the sails of the windmill, which did not come into widespread use. However
water power Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a wa ...
was used extensively to power
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
in both
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
and later,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
and
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
. Animal power in the form of the horse or ox was used to work the fields. The first horses were introduced to New France in 1665. Fire from a wood or oil fuel source was not new but the use of stone fireplaces and ovens along with metal pots and pans dramatically changed the nature of cooking.


Industry

Between the 1530s and 1626, Basque whalers (
whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...
) frequented the waters of
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
and the north shore of the
Gulf of St. Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence () is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about and containing about of water, at an average depth of . ...
from the Strait of Bell Isle to the mouth of the Sagenuay River. They constructed stone ovens ashore for fires to melt whale fat. However, as whales became scarce, the cod fishery (
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
) off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland became hotly contested by the British and French, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The British used small boats close to shore from which they caught the cod with hook and line. They practised the "dry fishery" technique which involved shore based settlements for the drying of cod on flakes or racks placed in the open air for their subsequent transport back to Europe. The French on the other hand practised the "green fishery" which involved processing the catch with salt aboard ship. At the same time a fleet of schooners fishing for cod, halibut, haddock, and mackerel became prominent off the Atlantic coast. The use of the long line and purse seine net increased the size of the catch. It is ironic that a phenomenon as fickle as fashion would be responsible for the economic development and exploration of half a continent, but such was the case with the
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
in North America between 1650 and 1850. The subject of bitter rivalry between the British and French Empires and inter-corporate rivalry among a number of business organizations, notably the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
and the
North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
, the technology of the trade was the picture of simplicity. Traders, be they French or British, would set out in birch bark canoes loaded with trade goods (knives, axe heads, cloth blankets, alcohol, firearms and other items) and travel west along Canada's numerous rivers, streams and lakes in search of Indians and exchange these items for beaver skins. The skins came from animals trapped by the native peoples and worn as clothing during the long cold Canadian winter. The skins were worn with the fur side next to the skin, and by the spring the long hairs would be worn away, leaving the short hairs which were used to make felt. The skins were then carried by the traders in their canoes back to trading posts in Montreal or on Hudson Bay and transported by sailing ship to England or France. There they were processed by a technique involving mercury, and the felt that resulted from the treatment was used to make beaver hats. This coincidentally gave rise to the associated phenomenon of the
mad hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Car ...
. A combination of diminishing beaver stocks and a change in fashion that saw a decline in the popularity of the beaver hat put an end to the trade.
Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
was an essential colonial activity. The settlers who founded Port Royal in
Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
in 1605 drained coastal marshes with a system of
dikes Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes, ...
and grew vegetables, flax and wheat and raised livestock. After 1713, the British promoted the Maritimes as a source of hemp for rope for the Royal Navy, with moderate success.
Mixed farming Mixed farming is a type of farming which involves both the growing of crops and the raising of livestock. Such agriculture occurs across Asia and in countries such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, South Africa, China, Central Europe, Can ...
, the growing of wheat and the raising of livestock would characterize the nature of maritime agriculture well into the mid-19th century. In 1617, Louis Hebert a colonist in Quebec began to raise cattle and grow peas, grain and corn on a very small plot. In the 1640s, charter companies promoted agriculture and settlers cleared forested land with the use of axes, oxen, horses and asses. In 1663,
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, through his colonial administrators Colbert and
Jean Talon Jean Talon, Count d'Orsainville (; January 8, 1626 – November 23, 1694) was a French colonial administrator who served as the first Intendant of New France. Talon was appointed by King Louis XIV and his minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to ...
took steps to promote the cultivation of hops and hemp and the raising of livestock. By 1721, the harvest of the farmers of
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
consisted predominantly of wheat and the census of horses, pigs, cattle and sheep registered 30,0000 animals. In the latter part of the century, the British promoted the cultivation of potatoes. The arrival of the
Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
in Upper Canada (where they were given the title
United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...
s) in the late 18th century resulted in the cultivation of hemp but agriculture was dominated by the wheat culture well into the mid-19th century. The techniques for the production of
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
were quickly introduced to colonial life. The first commercial brewery in Canada was built in Quebec City in 1668 by Jean Talon. This was followed by the construction of other breweries including those of John Molson in Montreal, 1786, Alexander Keith, Halifax, 1820, Thomas Carling, London, 1840, John Kinder Labatt, London, 1847 and Eugene O'Keefe in Toronto in 1891. Of note is the fact that the first patent awarded by the government of Canada went to Mr. G. Riley in 1842 for "an improved method of brewing ale, beer, porter, and other maltliquors".
Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
, then as now was of vital interest to individuals and to the functioning of the economy. The first
coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...
produced for use in New France was the "Gloria Regni", a silver piece struck in Paris in 1670. The first paper money in New France consisted of playing cards signed by the governor and issued in 1685 to help deal with the chronic shortage of coins. After 1760, the British introduced the sterling, which officially stood as Canada's currency for almost a century. However, the monetary system was a chaotic affair and the British coins and paper were circulated along with Spanish dollars, Nova Scotia provincial money, US dollars and gold coins and British paper "army bills" used to buy supplies in the War of 1812. In 1858 the government of the Province of Canada began keeping its accounts in Canadian dollars and to circulate its own paper currency alongside the paper dollars circulated by the
Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...
and other banks.


Materials

The Europeans brought with them
metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
and
textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
and the knowledge of the means to make them. Les Forges de St. Maurice, which began producing iron in 1738 at facilities near Trois-Rivières and the Marmora Ironworks (established in 1822 near Peterborough), were the first iron works in Canada. Both ceased operations in the latter part of the 19th century. Early 16th century female settlers along the St. Lawrence and in Acadia were almost all were familiar with the techniques of spinning yarn and weaving cloth for everyday clothes and bedding and the home production of textiles eventually became an important cottage industry. The
spinning wheel A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from fibres. It was fundamental to the cotton textile industry prior to the Industrial Revolution. It laid the foundations for later machinery such as the spinning jenny and spinning f ...
and loom were features of many colonial homes and weaving techniques included the "''à la planche''" and "''boutonné''" methods. Loyalist women settling in Upper and Lower Canada grew flax and raised sheep for wool to make clothing, blankets and linen. The
Jacquard loom The Jacquard machine () is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Ja ...
, introduced in the 1830s, featured a complex system of punch cards to control the pattern and was the first programmable machine in Canada. With the arrival of industrial textile mills in Montreal and Toronto in the late 19th century, the economic advantage of home weaving faded. Wood ash became a significant export during this period.
Potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.
made from the ashes of burnt wood was used as a bleaching and dying agent in textile production in Britain. Wood ash and pearl ash (potash mixed with lime) were shipped overseas as early as 1767 and export reached a peak in the mid-19th century. In 1871, there were 519 asheries in operation in Canada. Wood ash was also used in the home by colonials to make soap.


Medicine

Medical treatment at this time reflected techniques available in France and was provided by a barber-surgeon. The first in New France was Robert Giffard, who arrived in Quebec City in 1627 and "practised" at Hôtel-Dieu, Canada's first hospital, a very modest four-room structure founded by the church. The panacea was
bleeding Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...
, which involved the use of a knife to cut open a blood vessel and drain away a quantity of the patient's blood. There was some surgery, but it was undertaken with primitive instruments and without
anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
or any familiarity with the concept of
infection An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
. Both the procedure and results were usually quite gruesome. Another figure of repute, Michel Sarrazin, a botanist as well as doctor, arrived from France in the latter half of the 17th century and served as the surgeon-major for the French troops in New France. He, too, practised at Hotel-Dieu and while there treated hundreds of patients infected during a
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...
.
Eyeglasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or ...
for the correction of vision became available at this time. The
mercury thermometer Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Mercury ...
, invented in 1714, became a useful diagnostic tool for doctors as did the
stethoscope The stethoscope is a medical device for auscultation, or listening to internal sounds of an animal or human body. It typically has a small disc-shaped resonator that is placed against the skin, and one or two tubes connected to two earpieces. ...
invented in 1816. Because doctors were few and far between people with medical problems often had to treat themselves. They used Indian medicines or home remedies based on the internal and external application of various herbal and animal products. Advances in surgery came in the early 19th century with the innovative work of Dr. Christopher Widmer who practised at York Hospital (later known as
Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital ...
) and R.W. Beaumont made a name as a noted inventor of
surgical instruments A surgical instrument is a tool or device for performing specific actions or carrying out desired effects during a surgery or operation, such as modifying biological tissue, or to provide access for viewing it. Over time, many different kinds of ...
. The early part of the 19th century also witnessed the first halting steps with respect to the use of
inoculation Inoculation is the act of implanting a pathogen or other microorganism. It may refer to methods of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases, or it may be used to describe the spreading of disease, as in "self-inoculati ...
in Nova Scotia, in this case against smallpox. However, it would take another one hundred years for the practice to become widespread. General hospitals were established in Montreal in 1819 and
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
( now
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
) in 1829.


Domestic technology

The first
houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
in Canada were constructed at Port Royal on the Annapolis River in what is now Nova Scotia in 1605. The colonists built simple wooden frame homes with peaked roofs around a central courtyard. This established a house-building tradition that lasts to this day, for by far the most common domestic structure in Canada for the last 400 years has been the wood-frame peak-roofed house. Most domestic homes in New France from about 1650 to 1750, both urban and rural, were simple wooden structures. Wood was inexpensive, readily available and easily worked by most residents. Rooms were small, usually limited to a living/dining/kitchen space and perhaps a bedroom. Roofs were usually peaked to deflect the rain and very heavy snow. After fires in Quebec City in 1682 and Montreal in 1721, building codes emphasized the importance of stone construction, but these requirements were mostly ignored except by the most affluent. The most popular type of domestic dwelling in Loyalist Upper Canada in the late 18th century was the log house or the wood frame house (or, less commonly, the stone house). When homes were heated, it was by a fireplace burning wood or a cast-iron wood stove, which was also used for cooking, and they were lit by candlelight or whale oil lamp.
Kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
lamps became popular in the 1840s, when Gesner of Halifax developed an effective way to manufacture that product. Water for drinking and washing was carried to the home from an outside source. Tables and chairs, items unknown to Canada's native peoples, were introduced and had an important place in the home. The new arrivals also brought new eating habits. Meat from animals such as cows, sheep, chickens and pigs was common, as were new types of fruits and vegetables. These items were eaten fresh but could be stored for later consumption if salted, pickled or frozen. Grain was ground to flour at the local grist mill and baked in the home oven with yeast to make bread. Hopps, grain and fruit were fermented to make beer, hard alcohol and wine. Meals were served on pewter or china plates and eaten with a metal knife, fork and spoon. The places were set on a simple wooden table with wooden chairs often made by the man of the house. Musical instruments did much to enliven the colonial life. In the well-known documents ''The Jesuit Relations'', there is reference to the playing of the
fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
in 1645 and the
organ (music) Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. ...
in 1661. Quebec City boasted of Canada's first
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
in 1784.


Waste disposal

Sewage and garbage disposal were simple tasks in the mostly rural parts of the colonies. Sewage was dumped into a stream or left in pits and buried. Scrap food was fed to farm animals and any other garbage or waste was burned or placed in a quiet corner of the property and left to deteriorate. However, in towns such as Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal and York (Toronto), these tasks became more difficult due to lack of space and the concentrated population, and the result was very unpleasant. Streets reeked with the smell of decaying garbage as well as pig, horse and cow excrement. Markets were places of animal blood, rotting animal carcasses and fish heads and other decaying organic matter. Human excrement was stored in pails in buildings and then dumped into the streets. Not until the mid-19th and early 20th centuries would these problems be effectively addressed through the installation of sewer systems and the organization of municipal garbage collection.


Military technology

The Europeans introduced extremely important innovations relating to warfare:
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
, the
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
and the
musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
. The cannon was used to arm a number of important military structures, including the
Citadel of Quebec The Citadelle of Quebec (french: Citadelle de Québec), also known as ''La Citadelle'', is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of both the Canadian monarch and the governor general of Canada. It is located atop Cap ...
, Quebec City, Quebec (1745), the Fortress of Louisburg,
Louisburg, Nova Scotia Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. History The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, ...
(1745), and Fort Henry, Kingston, Ontario, 1812. They were also the primary weapon aboard the warships of the era. French regular soldiers stationed in New France and British regulars stationed in British North America after 1763 were equipped with a musket and bayonet. Ironically, in the Battle of Quebec, the French General Montcalm ordered his troops out of the ultra-modern stone-walled
Citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...
with its heavy defensive cannon and onto the adjacent
Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham (french: Plaines d'Abraham) is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, anada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place ...
where they were felled by a single volley of musket fire from the British line. Both the British/Canadian/Native troops and American troops were equipped with cannons and muskets when invading American armies attacked Canada in 1775 and again during the period from 2000 to 2001 with the intent of annexation. In both cases, the invaders were defeated.


The Steam Age (1830–1880)

The pace of diffusion quickened in the 19th century with the introduction of such technologies as steam power and the
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
. Indeed, it was the introduction of steam power that allowed politicians in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
to entertain the idea of creating a transcontinental state. In addition to steam power, municipal water systems and sewer systems were introduced in the latter part of the century. The field of medicine saw the introduction of
anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
and
antiseptics An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...
.


Steam power

Steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
was first introduced to Canada via the paddle-powered
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
. The ''Accommodation'', a side-wheeler built entirely in Montreal by the Eagle Foundry and launched in 1809, was the first steamer to ply Canadian waters, making its maiden voyage from Montreal to Quebec that same year in 36 hours. Other paddle-wheel steamboats included the ''Frontenac'', Lake Ontario (1816), the ''General Stacey'' Smyth, Saint John River (1816), the ''Union'', lower Ottawa River (1819), the ''Royal William'', Quebec to Halifax (1831), and the ''Beaver'', BC coast (1836). One of the largest trans-Atlantic steamship lines was established in Montreal in 1854. The
Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Captain Alexander Allan of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, trading and transporting between Scotland and Montreal, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line. By the 1830s the company had offic ...
company, founded by Sir
Hugh Allan Sir Hugh Allan (September 29, 1810 – December 9, 1882) was a Scottish-Canadian shipping magnate, financier and capitalist. By the time of his death, the Allan Shipping Line had become the largest privately owned shipping empire in the wor ...
, operated a fleet of over 100 oceangoing steam ships, plying the route between Montreal and Britain from that date until 1917, when it was sold to Canadian Pacific Ocean Services Limited. The first
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
-powered railway service in Canada was offered by the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, Quebec, in 1836. Other railway systems soon followed, including the Albion Mines Railway, Nova Scotia (1839), the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad (1853), the Great Western Railway, Montreal to Windsor (1854), the Grand Trunk Railway, Montreal to Sarnia (1860), the Intercolonial Railway (1876), the Chignecto Marine Transport Railway, Tignish, Nova Scotia (1888), the Edmonton, Yukon & Pacific Railway (1891), the Newfoundland Railway, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (1893), the White Pass and Yukon Railway, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory (1900), the Kettle Valley Railway, British Columbia (1916) and Canadian National Railways (1917). One of the great engineering works of the world, the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
and its associated Canadian Pacific trans-Canada telegraph system, was completed in 1885. Between 1881 and 1961, CPR would operate 3,267 steam locomotives. The
stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
came into its own in the mid-19th century. Roads in early colonial Canada were poor and not well-suited to long-distance travel by horse-drawn coach. For this reason, the stage coach was used mostly for short-distance travel and long distance inter-city passenger service was mostly by water. With the introduction of the steam locomotive, long distance inter-city passenger service boomed. However, a means of conveyance was required serve small towns that found themselves short distances from "the end of the line" or beyond the reach of local public horse car service. The stage coach was well-suited to this role. From about 1850 until 1900, in parallel with the explosive growth of the rail network all across Canada, the service grew. However, the ever-expanding reach of the rail network spread eventually even to small towns. The small size of the markets served and arrival of cars and buses put an end to this colourful means of transportation in the early 20th century. In Western Canada throughout the 19th century, the
Carlton Trail The Carlton Trail was the primary land transportation route in the Canadian Northwest for most of the 19th century, connecting Fort Carlton to Edmonton along a line of intermediate places. It was part of a trail network that stretched from the Red ...
served as an important land transportation route over its 1500 km length from Winnipeg (Fort Garry) to Edmonton, (Upper Fort des Prairies). The simple horse-drawn
Red River Cart The Red River cart is a large two-wheeled cart made entirely of non-metallic materials. Often drawn by oxen, though also by horses or mules, these carts were used throughout most of the 19th century in the fur trade and in westward expansion in Ca ...
was a common sight on the road. Another overland series of roads, the
Red River Trails The Red River Trails were a network of ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony (the "Selkirk Settlement") and Fort Garry in British North America with the head of navigation on the Mississippi River in the United States. These trade route ...
, connected Fort Garry to the US. Manned flight came to Canada during these years. On 4 August 1840, a hot air balloon took to the air for the first time in Canada when the "Star of the East", piloted by aeronaut Louis Lauriat, rose into the sky over Saint John, New Brunswick.


Universal time

The measurement of time before the coming of the railways was a local matter with towns and cities establishing their own "time zones". There was little coordination of times between cities or regions in Canada or elsewhere in the world. Train travel revealed the shortcomings of this arrangement for it quickly led to problems related to the scheduling of arrivals and departures from different cities. A Canadian engineer,
Sandford Fleming Sir Sandford Fleming (January 7, 1827 – July 22, 1915) was a Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to colonial Canada at the age of 18. He promoted worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian, ...
, proposed a coordinated worldwide time system at a meeting in Toronto of the Royal Canadian Institute in 1879. His idea was accepted at the
International Meridian Conference The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States, to determine a prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A. Art ...
of 1884.


Communication

Canada's initial
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
service, introduced in 1846, was offered by the Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Co. Others soon followed, including the telegraph system of the Montreal Telegraph Company, 1847 and the telegraph system of the Dominion Telegraph Company, 1868. The production and transmission of the signal was by means of analog technology, and its introduction would form the backbone of communication and computing technology in Canada for the next 140 years. In 1856, the first underwater telegraph cable in Canada was laid, linking Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Aspy, Nova Scotia. Ten years later, in 1866, the first
transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
was laid between Heart's Content, Newfoundland and Foilhommerum, Valentia Island, in western Ireland. The first trans-Canada telegraph service was established by Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885. In 1902, Canadian Pacific completed a trans-Pacific cable telegraph, linking Vancouver with Australia and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. The newspaper benefited from the introduction of the telegraph and the
rotary press A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder. Printing can be done on various substrates, including paper, cardboard, and plastic. Substrates can be sheet feed or unwound on a continuo ...
. The latter device, invented in the US, was first used in Canada by George Brown in Toronto starting in 1844 to print copies of the Globe. This process permitted the printing of thousands of copies of each daily paper rather than the mere hundreds of copies possible with previous technologies.


Energy and oil

Drilling for
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
was first undertaken in Canada in 1851 in Enniskillen Township in Lambton County by the International Mining and Manufacturing Company of Woodstock, Ontario. There was fierce competition for oil drilling, refining and distribution in southern Ontario until 1880 when 16 oil refineries merged to form
Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...
. This company was in turn acquired in 1898 by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust. Oil discovery and development in the west dates from the early 20th century, with Imperial becoming a major player by 1914 at Turner Valley, Alberta and in 1920 at Norman Wells, NWT. British based corporations such as Royal Dutch Shell and Anglo-Persian Oil (British Petroleum) also became involved in oil exploration in the west at this time.
Oil refining An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...
required sulfuric acid, and two entrepreneurs, T.H. Smallman and W. Bowman, established the Canadian Chemical Company in London, Ontario in 1867 to manufacture this product for the region's oil industry. This marked the beginning of the mass production of heavy industrial chemicals in Canada. The discovery of oil and gas led to the construction of Canada's first energy pipelines. In 1853, an iron pipeline from the Maurice River area carried natural gas 25 kilometres to Trois-Rivières, Quebec, where it was used to provide street lighting. In 1862 a pipeline was built to carry oil from wells in Petrolia, Ontario to Sarnia for refining and in 1895 another natural gas pipeline, 20 centimetres in diameter, linked wells in Essex County, Ontario to Windsor and passed under the Detroit River to Detroit. Coal gas public street lighting systems were introduced in Montreal in 1838, in Toronto in 1841 and in Halifax in 1850. Coal
gasification Gasification is a process that converts biomass- or fossil fuel-based carbonaceous materials into gases, including as the largest fractions: nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (). This is achieved by reacting ...
plants were built in these cities and others to provide the gas for the lighting systems. Most remained in operation until the 1950s when they were phased out due to a loss of demand in favour of the more practical and inexpensive natural gas. The decommissioning of these sites was often problematic due to the accumulation of toxic coal tar in the ground.


Materials and products

Glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
manufacturing was introduced at this time. Glass was manufactured at Mallorytown, Upper Canada beginning in 1825. Window glass was produced at the Canada Glass Works in St. Jean, Canada East (Quebec) from 1845 to 1851 and the Ottawa Glass Works at Como in Ottawa, Canada West (Ontario) from 1847 to 1857. Glass was blown to form tubes which were cut lengthwise, unrolled and flattened. Glass bottles were produced starting in 1851 by the Ottawa factory and Foster Brothers Glass Works, in St. Jean starting in 1855. Other manufacturers included: the Canada Glass Works, Hudson, Quebec, 1864–1872 and the Hamilton Glass Company, Hamilton, Ont, 1865–96, which produced "green" glass and the St. Lawrence Glass Company, Montreal, 1867–73 and Burlington Glass Company of Hamilton, Ont, 1874–98 which produced "flint" or clear glass.Warrington, Newbold, Chemical Canada: Past and Present, The Chemical Institute of Canada, Ottawa, 1970
Rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
footwear was produced by the Canadian Rubber Company in Montreal starting in 1854. Industrial
textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
production also took its first steps during these years. In 1826, Mahlon Willett established a woollen cloth manufacturing factory in L'Acadie, Lower Canada and by 1844 the Sherbrooke Cotton Factory in Sherbrooke was producing cotton cloth. This establishment also had powered knitting machines and may therefore have been Canada's first knitting mill before burning down in 1854. There were cloth manufacturing mills in operation at Ancaster, Ontario by 1859, as well as Merritton, Ontario (the Lybster Mills, 1860). In Montreal a cotton mill operated on the banks of the Lachine Canal at the St-Gabriel Lock from 1853 until at least 1871 and Belding Paul & Co., operated Canada's first silk cloth manufacturing factory in that city starting in 1876. The
safety match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
became available to Canadians about mid-century. The technology, which separated the chemicals for match ignition, some on the match head and some on the striking surface, was invented by J.E. Lumdstrom in Sweden in 1855. Canadian production began in 1856 when Ezra Butler Eddy began to manufacture safety matches in Hull, Quebec. The
E. B. Eddy Company The E. B. Eddy Company was a Canadian pulp and paper company, now a division of Domtar Inc. At the time of the purchase, the company had facilities in Hull, Quebec, Timmins, Ontario, Espanola, Ontario, Chapleau, Ontario, Pembroke, Ontario, Sault ...
became one of the largest producers of matches in the world.


Industrial techniques and processes

The
lumber industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furnitu ...
grew to become one of Canada's most important economic engines during this period. A market for Canadian wood developed in Britain where access to traditional sources of lumber for the construction of ships for the Royal Navy, as well as industrial structures, was blocked by Napoleon in 1806. As a result, Britain turned to her colonies in North America to supply masts for her ships as well as sawn lumber and square timber. Other wood products included barrel staves, shingles, box shooks and spool wood for textile factories. Growth during this period was staggering. In 1805, 9000 loads of lumber arrived in Britain from Canada. In 1807, the total number rose to 27,000 loads, in 1809, 90,000 and by 1846, 750,000 loads.
Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
was necessary for the transport of
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
to saw mill and ports as well as providing the power for the saw mills themselves and as a result the
forest industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furnitu ...
developed along the rivers of New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, including the Mirimachi, St. John, Ottawa and Gatineau. The logging itself was a winter activity and began with the first snowfall when roads and camps were built in the forest. Trees were cut with steel axes until about 1870 when the two-man crosscut saw was introduced. The felled trees had their branches removed and were hauled over the snow roads by teams of oxen or horses to the nearest frozen stream or river. In the spring melt they would be carried by the rushing water downstream to the mills. Often the logs "jammed" and on the way the lumberjacks would undertake the very dangerous lob of breaking the "jam". Where there were rapids or obstacles, special timber "slides" were constructed to aid transport. Large numbers of logs were often assembled into rafts to aid their movement or into very large booms which drifted down river to mills and market. A number of large firms appeared as a result of this activity including, Cunard and Pollok, Gilmour and Co. in New Brunswick, William Price in Chicoutimi, Quebec and J.R.Booth in Ottawa. The introduction of the railway at mid-century served to decrease the importance of water transport for the industry. The industry in western Canada and in particular British Columbia did not develop as quickly as in the east but with the exhaustion of the eastern forests and the opening of the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
in 1914, it eventually overtook the scale of activity in eastern Canada. Different conditions there required different logging techniques. Because the trees were much larger and heavier, three times as many horses or oxen were required to haul them. The more moderate climate meant that the winter snow roads could not be used and instead necessitated the use of log skid roads. Trees were so tall that
springboards A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...
were wedged into notches cut into the trunk to serve as work platforms for two loggers using heavy double bit steel axes. Human and animal muscle, powered the industry until 1897 when the steam-powered "donkey engine" was introduced in B.C. from the US. This stationary machine drove a winch connected to a rope or wire which was used to haul logs up to 150 metres across the forest floor. A series of such engines placed at intervals could be used to haul large numbers of logs, long distances in relatively short periods of time. The "high lead system" in which a wire or lead suspended in trees was used to haul logs, was also introduced about this time. Other manufacturing capabilities began to develop during this period, in parallel with shipbuilding. Canada's first
paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
was built in St. Andrews, Quebec in 1805 by two New Englanders and produced paper for sale in Montreal and Quebec City. By 1869 Alexander Burtin was operating Canada's first groundwood paper mill in Valleyfield, Quebec. It was equipped with two wood grinders imported from Germany and produced primarily newsprint. North America's first chemical
wood-pulp Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...
mill was constructed in Windsor mills, Quebec in 1864 by Angus and Logan. C.B.Wright & Sons began to make "
hydraulic cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
" in Hull, Quebec in 1830.
Leather tanning Tanning is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Tanning hide into leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin, makin ...
gained prominence and James Davis among others made a mark in this field in Toronto beginning in 1832. Canada became the world's largest exporter of
potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.
in the 1830s and 1840s. In 1840 Darling & Brady began to manufacture soap in Montreal. E.B.Eddy began to produce
matches A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
in Hull, Quebec in 1851.
Explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
were manufactured by an increasing number of companies including the Gore Powder Works at Cumminsville, Canada West, 1852, the Canada Powder Company, 1855, the Acadia Powder Company 1862, and the Hamilton Powder Company established that same year. In 1879 that company built Canada's first high explosives manufacturing plant in Beloeil, Quebec. The first salt well was drilled at Goderich, Canada West in 1866. Phosphate fertilizer was first made in Brockville, Ontario in 1869. The mass production of
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
began at this time. Livingstone and Johnston, later W.R. Johnston & Company, founded in Toronto in 1868, was the first in Canada to cut cloth and sew together the component pieces with the help of the newly introduced
sewing machine A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Since the inv ...
, as part of a continuous operation. The technology of
photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
was introduced during these years. Eleven daguerreotypists were listed in Lovell's Canadian Directory of 1851 while the Canada Classified Directory listed 360 in 1865. Most used the wet collodion process invented by F. Scott Archer in England in 1851. The growing agricultural activity in southern Ontario and Quebec provided the basis for farm mechanization and the manufacturing industry to meet the demand for
agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...
. The area around Hamilton had become attractive for iron and steel industries based on railway construction and the source of this raw material made the same area attractive to aspiring farm implement manufacturers. By about 1850 there were factories producing ploughs, mowers, reapers, seed drills, cutting boxes, fanning mills threshing machines and steam engines, established by entrepreneurs including the well known Massey family, Harris, Wisner, Cockshutt, Sawyer, Patterson, Verity and Willkinson. Although the industry was located mostly around Hamilton there were other smaller manufacturers in other locations including, Frost and Wood of Smith Falls, Ontario, Herring of Napanee, Ontario Ontario, Harris and Allen of Saint John and the Connell Brothers of Woodstock, both in New Brunswick and Mathew Moody and Sons of Terrebonne and Doré et Fils of La Prairie both in Quebec.
Meat processing The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally no ...
had been a local undertaking since the beginning of the colony with the farmer and local butcher providing nearby customers with product. Health concerns were evident from the start and regulations for the butchering and sale of meat were promulgated in New France in 1706 and in Lower Canada in 1805. Activity grew to reach an industrial scale by the middle of the 19th century. Laing Packing and Provisions was founded in Montreal in 1852, F.W. Fearman began processing operations in Hamilton, Ontario and in Toronto William E. Davies established Canada's first large scale hog slaughter house in Toronto in 1874. The founding of the Canadian Manufacturers Association in 1871 was symptomatic of the growth of this sector of the economy with its related technologies. The
retail industry Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
also experienced considerable innovation during these years at the hands of
Timothy Eaton Timothy Eaton (March 1834 – 31 January 1907) was an Irish businessman who founded the Eaton's department store, one of the most important retail businesses in Canada's history. Early life and family He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Hi ...
of Toronto. He offered for sale large numbers of "consumer" goods such as clothes, shoes and household items under the roof of one large store and sold them at fixed prices eliminating the concept of barter. This had become possible because of the recent stabilization of the Canadian currency through the creation of the Canadian dollar and the simultaneous appearance of mass-produced goods which allowed uniform pricing for any particular product. In 1884 he created the iconic Eaton's catalogue which formed the basis for his catalogue sales operation which allowed rural dwellers to order and receive by mail or train the products that were available to those who had access to his growing chain of giant urban department stores.


Medicine

There were dramatic developments in the field of medicine during these years. In 1834, a British surgeon with the Royal Navy suggested a link between sanitation and disease. This led to the establishment of departments of public health across the country by the end of the century and provided an impetus to municipalities to supply clean water to their citizens as noted above. The use of the
hypodermic syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside o ...
, invented in 1853, was quickly adopted by Canadian doctors. Two other medical innovations also appeared at this time,
anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
and
antiseptic An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...
. The use of
ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...
and chloroform as anaesthetics became common in England and the US after 1846. In Canada, Dr. David Parker of Halifax is credited as the first to use anaesthesia during surgery. Antiseptic was being used in the operating rooms of the Montreal and Toronto General hospitals by 1869. In many cases the only technique for dealing with infectious disease was quarantine and this was the case for
leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...
. Canada's first leper colony was established on
Sheldrake Island Sheldrake Island (french: l'Île aux Becs-Scies) is an island in New Brunswick, Canada, known for being the site of New Brunswick's first lazaretto. It is located only 8 miles from Chatham, on the Miramichi River. History The lazaretto was es ...
in New Brunswick and operated there from 1844 to 1849 when patients were transferred to a facility at Tracadie, New Brunswick. On the west coast a leper colony was established on D'Arcy Island off the coast of Vancouver Island and patients were treated there until 1924 when it was closed. A number of patients on the island tried to escape by swimming to the larger Vancouver Island.


Public works, water, civil engineering and architecture

Water distribution systems also became a feature of many Canadian cities during this period and their installation represented the most significant development in
public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
in Canada's history. Gravity feed systems were in operation in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1837 and Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1848. Steam powered pumping stations were in service in Toronto in 1841, Kingston, Ontario in 1850 and Hamilton, Ontario in 1859. Quebec City had a system by 1854 and Montreal by 1857. Most large cities had steam powered municipal systems by the 1870s. Sewer systems necessarily followed, and with them, the
flush toilet A flush toilet (also known as a flushing toilet, water closet (WC) – see also toilet names) is a toilet that disposes of human waste (principally urine and feces) by using the force of water to ''flush'' it through a drainpipe to another lo ...
in the 1880s, made popular by Crapper in Great Britain at that time. Coal gas public
street lighting A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
systems were introduced in Montreal in 1838, in Toronto in 1841, and in Halifax in 1850. Horse-drawn street rail coaches for public transport were introduced in large Canadian cities about his time. In Montreal the Montreal City Passenger Railway Company, formed in 1861, offered horse car service from 1861 to 1891 when it was replaced by electric streetcar service. Horse car service began in Toronto in 1861 as well and was offered by the
Toronto Street Railways The Toronto Street Railway (TSR) was the operator of a horse-drawn streetcar system from 1861 to 1891 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its successor, the Toronto Railway Company, inherited the horsecar system and electrified it between 1892 and 1894 ...
until 1892, when it was also replaced by electric streetcar service. The technology of incarceration was refined during these years. Prisons were built in Quebec City in 1809 and Montreal in 1836. One of the world's largest and most modern prisons, the fortress-like Provincial Penitentiary of the Province of Upper Canada,
Kingston Penitentiary Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario. History Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1 ...
, opened in that city in 1835. Based on a design by William Powers a deputy warden at the prison in Auburn, New York State, the facility, surrounded by high walls, could hold up to 800 prisoners in minuscule cells measuring 6 feet by 2 feet, separated from each other by stone walls two feet thick. Other prisons of similar design included those at Saint John, New Brunswick, 1839, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1854, St. John's, Newfoundland, 1859, the
Don Jail The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...
, Toronto, 1866, the
Toronto Central Prison The Toronto Central Prison, also known as the Central Prison, Central Prison for Men, and more colloquially as The Toronto Jail (the third of four Toronto area jails to be given that nickname) was a prison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was a 33 ...
, Toronto, 1873, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Montreal, 1873, Stony Mountain, Manitoba, 1877, New Westminster, British Columbia, 1878 and
Dorchester Penitentiary The Dorchester Penitentiary ( French: Pénitencier de Dorchester) is a Canadian federal corrections facility located in the village of Dorchester, New Brunswick. It shares a property with Westmorland Institution and Shepody Healing Centre. ...
, New Brunswick, 1880. Civilians convicted of capital crimes (
capital punishment in Canada Capital punishment in Canada dates back to Canada's earliest history, including its period as a French colony and, after 1763, its time as a British colony. From 1867 to the elimination of the death penalty for murder on July 26, 1976, 1,481 peo ...
) were hanged by the neck. This technique included both the "short" and "long" drop. The short drop, killed by suffocation while conscious, while the “more humane” long drop immediately broke the neck, thus rendering the person unconscious before subsequent death by suffocation. Those convicted of capital military offences were shot by firing squad. Notable works of civil engineering realized during this period included the
Chaudière Bridge The Chaudière Bridge (French: ''Pont de la Chaudière'') crosses the Ottawa River about west of Parliament Hill, joining the communities of Gatineau, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario, linking Rue Eddy in the Hull sector of Gatineau and Booth Street i ...
, Ottawa, in 1828, 1844, and 1919, the
Reversing Falls Bridge The Reversing Falls Bridge is a two-lane bridge crossing the Saint John River at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It carries New Brunswick Route 100 (Bridge Road) across the river and there is no toll for its use. History The Reversing Fal ...
, Saint John, New Brunswick, 1853 and 1885, the
Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge The Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge stood from 1855 to 1897 across the Niagara River and was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It spanned and stood downstream of Niagara Falls, where it connected Niagara Falls, Ontario to N ...
, 1855, The Halifax Citadel, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1856,
Victoria Bridge, Montreal The Victoria Bridge (french: Pont Victoria), previously known as Victoria Jubilee Bridge, is a bridge over the St. Lawrence River, linking Montreal, Quebec, to the south shore city of Saint-Lambert. Opened in 1859, originally as a tubular bridg ...
, Quebec, 1859, Canada's first tunnel, the Brockville Railway Tunnel, Brockville, Ontario, 1869, the Kettle Creek Bridge, St. Thomas, Ontario, 1871 and the Grand Rapids Tramway,
Grand Rapids, Manitoba Grand Rapids is a town in Manitoba, Canada, on the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg where the Saskatchewan River enters the lake. As the name implies, the river had a significant drop at this point (more than in less than ). In modern days, ...
, 1877. The
grand hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...
made its first appearance during these years with the opening of the Clifton Hotel in Niagara Falls, Upper Canada in 1833. Other hotels of note included St. Lawrence Hall, Montreal, 1851, the Queen's Hotel, Toronto, 1862 and the Tadoussac Hotel, Tadoussac, Quebec, 1865. Church architecture and construction advanced with the completion of
Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal) , image = Basílica de Notre-Dame, Montreal, Canadá, 2017-08-11, DD 26-28 HDR.jpg , imagesize = 280px , landscape = , caption = The church building's exterior, 2017 , pushpin map ...
in 1843, the
Cathedral Church of St. James (Toronto) The Cathedral Church of St. James is an Anglican cathedral in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the location of the oldest congregation in the city, with the parish being established in 1797. The cathedral, with construction beginning in 18 ...
in 1844 and
St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto) St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada, and one of the oldest churches in Toronto. It is located at 65 Bond Street in Toronto's Garden District. St. Michael's was designed by ...
in 1848.


Defence

The Militia Act of 1855 passed by the Legislature of the Province of Canada established the basis for the Canadian military. The act established seven batteries of artillery, which grew to ten field batteries and 30 batteries of garrison artillery by 1870. Weapons used by these units included the 7-pound smooth-bore muzzle-loading and the 9-pound rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns.


The early Electric Age (1880–1900)


Energy and electricity

Public
electric lighting An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...
received its first Canadian demonstration in Manitoba at the Davis House hotel on Main Street, Winnipeg, March 12, 1873. In 1880, the Manitoba Electric and Gas Light Company was incorporated to provide public lighting and power and in 1893 the Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Company was established. Halifax had electric lights installed by the Halifax Electric Light Company Limited in 1881. The year 1883 saw the introduction of electric street lighting in Victoria, the first city in British Columbia to get public electric power. Vancouver got electricity in 1887. In 1884, the Royal Electric Company began offering commercial power to Montreal. Also in 1884, Saint John, New Brunswick was the first city in that province to have commercially available power delivered by the Saint John Electric Light Company. Edmonton's first power company was established in 1891 and placed street lights along the city's main street, Jasper Avenue. The power company was purchased by the Town of Edmonton in 1902 and to this day remains a municipal government enterprise known as
EPCOR EPCOR Utilities Inc., formerly known as Edmonton Power Corporation, is a utility company based in Edmonton, Alberta. EPCOR manages water, wastewater, natural gas, and electricity distribution systems in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British ...
. Initially electricity was generated using a technique that produced
direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...
to DC. This type of current had the unfortunate property of being difficult to transmit long distances over wires. In 1897 Westinghouse established a manufacturing facility in Hamilton and began producing heavy
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
(AC) generators and AC motors (based on Serbian-American inventor
Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''
induction motor An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding. An induction mot ...
) for the Canadian market. AC had an advantage in that it was more amenable to transmission over long distances. The competitor of that company, General Electric of Canada (1892), with production facilities in Peterborough, Ontario eventually followed suit. AC technology has been used for electrical transmission since that time.


Transportation

With the electrification of cities, large and small, came the electric
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
. In Montreal, the horse car was withdrawn from service in 1894 and replaced with the electric streetcar, operated by the Montreal Street Railway Company from that date until 1911. Many of the streetcars were manufactured by Canadian Car and Foundry of Montreal and the Ottawa Car Company. In Toronto, the horse car gave way to the electric streetcar in 1892, with that service being offered by the
Toronto Railway Company The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) was the operator of the streetcar system in Toronto between 1891 and 1921. It electrified the horsecar system it inherited from the Toronto Street Railway, the previous operator of streetcar service in Toronto. ...
from 1891–1921. The
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...
made its appearance at this time. The "boneshaker", with pedals connected directly to the front wheel, appeared in the Maritimes in 1866 followed by the penny-farthing bicycle after 1876. The machine evolved and was improved with the addition of pneumatic tires, a central crank for the pedals and a coasting back wheel with brake. The increasing popularity of bicycles led to the formation of a national bicycle club, the Canadian Wheelsman in London, Ontario in 1879. In 1899, five important Canadian bicycle manufacturers, Gendron, Goold,
Massey-Harris Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in T ...
, H.A. Lozier, and Welland Vale, combined to form what would become the very well known Canadian Cycle and Motor Company (CCM), with 1700 employees and an annual production of 40,000 bicycles. In 1891, the newly formed Canadian Pacific Steamship Lines began offering trans-Pacific
steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
service from Vancouver with three large steel-hulled ships, the "Empress", liners, India, China and Japan. A fleet of smaller "Princess" steam ships was used for coastal service and the Great Lakes. Of note is the fact that Canadian Pacific, with its combination of steam ships and steam locomotives, built a transportation empire that spanned more than half the globe. Few other companies anywhere in the world at that time could boast of such an accomplishment.


Communication

The
telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
began to make its mark in Canada, modestly at first. The production, transmission and reception of the sound signal was by means of analog technology which would form the basis of the telephone system for the next century. The telephone system of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada (
Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
) was established in 1880. New printing technologies and the availability of this new material,
newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...
, had a dramatic effect on the
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
industry. By the 1880s, the rotary press had evolved into a high speed machine and with the use of stereotyping allowed the production of large numbers daily papers. In 1876, daily newspaper circulation in Canada's nine major urban centres stood at 113,000 copies. By 1883, it had more than doubled. The introduction of typecasting machines such as the Linotype typesetting machine in the 1890s led to an expansion in size of the individual paper from 8 to 12 pages to 32 or 48 pages. This was also made possible by the availability of cheap newsprint manufactured in huge continuous rolls that could be fitted directly into the high speed presses. The techniques for
book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
were also firmly established during these years. Publishers of note included, Beauchemin of Montreal, 1842, and Musson Book Co., 1894, and G.N. Morang, 1897. The techniques of
filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
were introduced to Canada in 1897. In that year, Manitoban James Freer made a series of films about farm life in western Canada. In 1889–1899, the Canadian Pacific Railway sponsored a successful tour by Freer to present these films in Britain to encourage immigration from that country for the development of the prairies and therefore boost the business of the railway. This inspired the railway to finance the production of additional films and hire a British firm, which created a Canadian arm, the Bioscope Company of Canada, and produced 35 films about Canadian life. In Montreal in 1900,
Emile Berliner Emile Berliner (May 20, 1851 – August 3, 1929) originally Emil Berliner, was a German-American inventor. He is best known for inventing the lateral-cut flat disc record (called a "gramophone record" in British and American English) used with a ...
, inventor of the
gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
sound recording technique, established the Berliner Gramophone Company and began to manufacture the first phonograph records in Canada, first produced as seven-inch single-sided discs. These records were played on a gramophone, also manufactured by Berliner. They produced sound through purely mechanical means, by rotating the discs on a platter turning at 78 r.p.m. and "reading" the grooves with a metal needle, which caused substantial wear and tear.


Heavy manufacturing

The first of these companies, CLC, had its origins in the formation of the “Ontario Foundry” established in 1848, but with the production of its first locomotive in 1854, it became known as the Kingston Locomotive Works. It produced 36 locomotives mostly for the new Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) before going broke in 1860. Through a series of corporate reorganizations, the company manufactured locomotives for both the GRT and the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1901, further reorganization led to the formation of the Canadian Locomotive and Engine Company Ltd. with the company producing one steam locomotive per week. The company was a significant supplier of stream locomotives until the arrival of the diesel in the fifties when it went into decline. The
Montreal Locomotive Works Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive ...
originated with the formation of the Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal Limited in 1883 to supply the GRT, the CPR and the Intercolonial Railway with locomotives and rolling stock. The manufacture of streetcars by companies such as
Ottawa Car Company The Ottawa Car Company was a builder of streetcars for the Canadian market and was founded in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1891 Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', p. 423. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing. . as an outgrowth of the car ...
, founded in 1891, in Ottawa, and
Canadian Car and Foundry Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F), also variously known as "Canadian Car & Foundry" or more familiarly as "Can Car", was a manufacturer of buses, railway rolling stock, forestry equipment, and later aircraft for the Canadian market. CC&F history g ...
established in Montreal in 1909, was also of note.
Dominion Bridge Company Dominion Bridge Company Limited was a Canadian steel bridge constructor originally based in Lachine, Quebec. From the core business of steel bridge component fabrication, the company diversified into related areas such as the fabrication of holdin ...
established in Montreal in 1886, became a well-known heavy engineering firm in the field of bridge building and the construction of steel frames for skyscrapers. GE Canada, founded by Thomas Edison in Peterborough in 1892, contributed to heavy manufacturing techniques through the fabrication of large
electric generators In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy Chemical energy is the energy of chemical substances that is released when they undergo a chemical reactio ...
and
electric motors An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate force ...
at that facility, which were used to supply the rapidly growing Canadian market for electrical generating equipment. Similar heavy electrical products were manufactured by Westinghouse Canada established in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1897. The growth of western agriculture stimulated the growth of the eastern
farm implement Agricultural equipment is any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming. The best-known example of this kind is the tractor. Tractor and power *Tractor / Two-wheel tractor * Tracked tractor / Caterpillar tractor Soil cultiv ...
industry. Companies such as Bell, Waterloo, Lobsinger, Hergott and Sawyer-Massey were soon shipping their large metal threshing machines and other types of equipment via the CPR to western farms. Arguably the most notable of these corporations was Massey-Harris Co. Ltd. of Toronto, created in 1891 through the merger of Massey Manufacturing Co. (1847) and A. Harris, Son & Co Ltd. (1857) which became the largest manufacturer of farm machinery in the British Empire.


Industrial processes and techniques

Metal mining also became a significant industry during this period. The invention of the electric dynamo,
electroplating Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct electric current. The part to be ...
and
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
in the 1870s created a strong demand for copper and nickel.
Hard rock mining Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the ...
became a practical consideration because of the concurrent development of the hard rock drill and
dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
. A copper mine was established in Orford County Quebec in 1877, by the Orford Company while the Canadian Copper Company was founded in 1886 to exploit copper deposits at Sudbury made accessible by the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The ore from that mine was found to contain nickel as well as copper and a technique known as the Orford process using nitrate cake (acid sodium sulphate) was developed to separate the metals. Hard rock gold mining became practical in 1887, with the development of the potassium cyanidation process, by Scott MacArthur, which was used to separate the gold from the ore. This technique was first used in Canada at the Mikado Mine in the Lake-of-the-Woods Region again made accessible by the CPR. The CPR also provided access the B.C. interior where lead, copper, silver and gold ores had been discovered in the Rossland area in 1891. The ores were transported to Trail, B.C. where they were roasted. After CPR built the Crowsnest Pass it purchased the Trail roasting facility and in 1899 built a blast furnace to smelt lead ore. The techniques of
coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
were introduced to Canada in 1720 in what is now Cape Breton, on a coal seam on the north side of Cow Bay. The coal was used as fuel for the inhabitants at Louisburg. Large scale mining developed the Sydney area in particular and continued until 1876 by which time easily reached deposits had been exhausted. However mining continued with tunnels extending out under the sea. The coal was used to power steam locomotives and in latter years to make steel, provide fuel for central heating and provide the volatile gases that formed the basis for the coal gasification and related chemical industries. In 1893, a number of Nova Scotia collieries including the Bridgeport, Caledonia, Clyde, Gardiner, Glace Bay, Gowrie, Lingan, Lorway, Schooner Pond and Victoria were united to form the Dominion Coal Company which by 1912 produced 40% of Canada's total coal output. The wheat economy developed on the prairies during these years. Agriculture in that region had begun around the Red River Colony in 1812, based on French Canadian survey techniques for land division and Scottish farming practices. The "infield" consisting of long narrow strips of land rising from the Red River Valley gave way to the "outfield" of pasture lands. Confederation spurred interest in western agriculture with the government of Canada subsequently purchasing Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870 and suppressing Metis resistance to eastern intervention with armed force that included the use of the Gatling gun in 1885. Conditions were best suited for the growing of wheat but a naturally dry climate and a short growing season as well as low grain prices made the 1890s difficult. However the difficulties were overcome. Reduced rail transportation costs which helped ease the burden of getting wheat to market and a rise in wheat prices served to encourage the development of the industry. In the 1870s and 1880s, ranching gained prominence as well in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta where dry and even drought-like conditions were eventually overcome after the introduction of irrigation in 1894. The
dairy industry A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a ...
with its associated techniques took root in Canada in the 1860s. The process for the factory production of
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
was developed by Jesse Williams in New York in 1851. The first Canadian cheese factory was built in Oxford County, Ontario in 1864 and was followed by a factory in Dunham, Quebec in 1865. By 1873, Canada was home to about 200 cheese factories. The first creamery of note was built at Helena, Quebec in 1873, while in 1883, the first Canadian producer of
condensed milk Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of ''sweetened condensed milk'' (SCM), to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condens ...
began operation in Truro, Nova Scotia. The large scale home delivery of milk began in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in 1900.


Materials

Railway and locomotive construction in the latter 19th century created a huge demand for
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
.
Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th c ...
was imported from England to Canada in barrels during the 19th century complementing the modest production of hydraulic cement that began in Hull, Quebec in 1830. By 1889 there were noted increases in the output of cement in Hull and other cement factories were built in Montreal, Napanee and Shallow Lake Ontario and in Vancouver in 1893. The industrial use of
asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
became notable during these years. Asbestos was discovered and mined in a number of places around the world, including Thetford Mines, Quebec beginning in 1879 and found its way into a bewildering variety of products including, insulation, automobile brake-pads, siding, shingles and fireproofing. At the turn of the 20th century, a number of
asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
related health concerns were identified. The
pulp and paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web an ...
also developed during these years. The sulfite pulp process developed in the US in 1866 became the basis for the Canadian industry. The first sulfite pulp mill in Canada, the Halifax Wood Fibre Company, was established in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia in 1885. Others followed including plants in Cornwall, Ontario, 1888, Hull, Quebec, 1889, Chatham, Quebec, 1889, the biggest, the Riordon Company in Merritton, Ontario in 1890 and in Hawkesbury, Ontario in 1898. The first
plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their Plasticity (physics), plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be Injection moulding, moulded, Extrusion, e ...
became available during this period. The distillation of products from wood characterized the transition from the use of natural chemical products (
chemical industry The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. The ...
) to that of fully synthetic products. The Rathburn Company of Toronto began to produce distillates including, wood alcohol and calcium acetate, used to make acetic acid or acetone, in 1897. The Standard Chemical Company of Toronto established in 1897, initiated the production of acetic acid in 1899 and
formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...
, from the oxidation of wood alcohol, in 1909. This later product was an essential element in the production of the fully synthetic, phenol-formaldehyde plastic (
Bakelite Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...
).


Light manufacturing

The Bell Telephone Company of Canada established a manufacturing department to meet some of its equipment needs when it began to offer telephone service in 1882. In 1895, the operation became a separate company known as Northern Electric and Manufacturing Co. Ltd., which was in turn merged with Imperial Wire and Cable Co. in 1914 to form Northern Electric Co. By the twenties the company was manufacturing a variety of electrical products, with much of the telephone equipment being produced under licence from AT&T in the US. All equipment was based on analog technology. The very popular and practical
tin can A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English), steel packaging, or can is a container for the distribution or storage of goods, made of thin metal. Many cans re ...
was introduced during this period. In the 1880s, George Dunning built Canada's first canning factory in Prince Edward County, Ontario, for the canning of fruits and vegetables. By 1900 there were eight such factories in Canada, four of which were in that same county and within a few years canning factories were found all across the country. In the forties, high-temperature canning, which sterilized the contents of the can and permitted long-term storage, was introduced. The
cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...
began to make its mark during these years. D. Ritchie and Co. began to manufacture the Derby brand in a factory on Dalhousie Street in Montreal in the late 19th century. About the same time the American Cigarette Company also of Montreal began to produce cigarettes in a factory on Côté Street. In 1895, the American Tobacco Company, a US owned organization, acquired both of these operations, which were then spun off to a newly formed Canadian subsidiary, the American Tobacco Co. of Canada Ltd., which produced the popular Sweet Caporal brand. With the coming of the railways and the introduction of
Standard Time Standard time is the synchronisation of clocks within a geographical region to a single time standard, rather than a local mean time standard. Generally, standard time agrees with the local mean time at some meridian that passes through the r ...
, a market for
clocks A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...
developed in Canada. The Canadian Clock Company (Whitby, 1872) and the Hamilton Clock Company (Hamilton, 1876) were the first in Canada to manufacture these new devices.web site, www.clockscanada.com The
Singer Manufacturing Company Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Ma ...
, established in 1851 in the US, began manufacturing its very popular line of
sewing machines A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with Thread (yarn), thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. ...
for the Canadian market at a factory built in St. Jean, Quebec in 1882. Industrial
textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
production became important at this time. Large powered automatic
loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...
s were able to produce vast quantities of fabric. The most notable Canadian venture in this field was
Dominion Textile The Dominion Textile Inc. or Domtex was a Canadian textile manufacturer that was founded in 1905 and closed in 1998 when its remains were purchased by the American Polymer Group, at the time headed by Jerry Zucker. History Following the instit ...
. The company had its roots in the formation of the Dominion Cotton Mills Company in Montreal in 1880 from eight small inefficient mills.


Public works and civil engineering

Notable works of civil engineering realized during these years included: the Lakehead Terminal Grain Elevators, 1882, the Naden First Graving Dock, Esquimalt, British Columbia, 1887, the St. Clair Railway Tunnel, Sarnia, Ontario, 1890, the
Whirlpool Rapids Bridge The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, commonly known as the Whirlpool Bridge or the Lower Steel Arch Bridge (before 1937), is a spandrel braced, riveted, two-hinged arch bridge that crosses the international border between Canada and the United States, con ...
, Niagara Falls, 1897 and the
Alexandra Bridge The Royal Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge, also known as the Alexandra Bridge or Interprovincial Bridge, is a steel truss cantilever bridge spanning the Ottawa River between Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. In addition to carrying vehicl ...
, Ottawa, Ontario – Hull, Quebec, 1900.
Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
in Canada received its first permanent home with the construction in 1877 of Tecumseh Park, built in London, Ontario for the London Tecumsehs baseball team. Other fields followed including Sunlight Park, in Toronto, 1886, Atwater Park, Montreal, in 1890 and Hanlan's Point Ball Field, 1897, in Toronto home of the Maple Leafs. The
steam shovel A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. Steam shovels played a major role in public works in the 19th and e ...
became an essential item of construction equipment during these years. Invented by William Otis in 1839, it was used widely in Canada, for the excavation of railway right-of-ways and the digging of basements and foundations for skyscrapers and domestic housing, in the late 19th century.


Waste disposal (sewers)

Sewerage systems were built in substantial numbers, but were not as common as water supply systems. Some of the first included Vancouver, B.C. in 1886 and Charlottetown, PEI in 1898. While the systems collected sewage and liquid waste from homes, public and commercial buildings and industrial sites, in most cases they merely displaced the problem for they emptied their contents into a nearby river or lake (or in the case of coastal cities, the ocean), without treatment. The disposal of solid waste became a considerable problem as towns and cities grew. By the mid-19th century, a number of Canadian municipalities used horse-drawn wagons for curbside garbage collection. The refuse was usually taken to a field or dump or in some instances piled along the bank of a nearby river or lake. With the arrival of motor power, the use of the garbage truck became common although the method of disposing of the garbage remained the same. The introduction of the flush toilet in the US and Canada in the 1880s created a market that inspired the invention of rolled
toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of u ...
. The product was first produced in the US by the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company in 1877.


Skyscrapers and architecture

It was the age of the
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
. The first in Canada was the eight-storey New York Life Insurance Co Building in Montreal, 1887–89, although it did not have a steel frame. The first self-supporting steel framed skyscraper in Canada was the Robert Simpson Department Store at the corner of Yonge and Queen in Toronto with its six floors and electric elevators, built in 1895. A number of grand hotels also opened during these years, including the
Banff Springs Hotel The Fairmont Banff Springs, formerly and commonly known as the Banff Springs Hotel, is a historic hotel located in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The entire town including the hotel, is situated in Banff National Park, a national park managed by Park ...
, Banff, Alberta, 1888, the Algonquin, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, 1889, the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec, City, 1893, the Queen's, Montreal, 1893, the "new"
Chateau Lake Louise The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a Fairmont hotel on the eastern shore of Lake Louise, near Banff, Alberta. The original hotel was gradually developed at the turn of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway and was thus "kin" to its ...
, Lake Louise, Alberta, 1894, and the Manoir Richelieu, Point-au-Pic, Quebec, 1899. Church architecture and construction was also notable as seen in the completion of
Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Marie-Reine-du-Monde, Montréal.jpg , imagesize = , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = , pushpin ...
, a half scale replica of St. Paul's Cathedral in Rome, in Montreal in 1894.


Central heating

The construction of skyscrapers, grand hotels and other large buildings led to the development of
central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...
, an essential feature in Canada's cold climate. Up to that time large buildings and homes were heated with fireplaces and iron stoves that used wood or coal as fuel. The construction of large multi-story buildings made this impractical. Fireplaces and stoves on the lower floors would have long flues and would not draw properly. On the upper floors, it would be necessary to transport fuel and to remove ashes up and down many flights of stairs or with an elevator. Central heating solved these problems. In 1832, British inventor
Angier March Perkins ] Angier March Perkins (21 August 1799 – 22 April 1881) was an American engineer who worked most of his career in the United Kingdom and was instrumental in developing the new technologies of central heating. Life Perkins was born in Old Newbu ...
developed a steam heating system for domestic use. This inspired the use of closed circuit hot water systems for large buildings. A metal furnace in the basement burning wood or coal was used to heat water in a tank, which in turn was circulated by an electric pump through a system of iron pipes throughout the building to radiators in rooms where heat was lost to the ambient air. The cooler water then returned to the water heater with the help of gravity, where it was reheated and recirculated.


Defence

In 1885, the newly introduced
Gatling gun The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon. The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyc ...
was first used by Canadian troops during the Riel Rebellion. The 12-pound field gun was used by Canadian soldiers in the Boer War. To provide the Canadian Militia with a source of Canadian manufactured munitions, the government established the crown-operated
Dominion Arsenal The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
in Quebec City in 1882. This factory produced bullets and shells. A reflection of this intense engineering activity as described above is seen in the founding of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering in 1887.


The 20th century


The 21st century


End note

In the earlier parts of Canada's history, the state often played a crucial role in the diffusion of these technologies, in some cases through a monopoly enterprise, in others with a private "partner". In more recent times, the need for the role of the state has diminished in the presence of a larger private sector. In the latter part of the 20th century, there is evidence that Canadian values prefer public expenditures on social programmes at the expense of public spending on the maintenance and expansion of public technical infrastructure. This can be seen in the fact that in 2008, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimated that it would take $123 billion to restore and repair aging urban infrastructure across Canada.


See also

*
Canadian government scientific research organizations Expenditures by federal and provincial organizations on scientific research and development accounted for about 10% of all such spending in Canada in 2006. These organizations are active in natural and social science research, engineering research, ...
*
Canadian industrial research and development organizations Expenditures by Canadian corporations on research and development accounted for about 50% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2007. In the corporate sector research and development tends to focus on the creation or ...
*
Canadian inventions Canadian inventions and discoveries are objects, processes, or techniques—invented, innovated, or discovered—that owe their existence either partially or entirely to a person born in Canada, a citizen of Canada, or a company or organizatio ...
*
Canadian Mining Hall of Fame The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by Maurice R. Brown as a way to honor Canada's mine finders and builders, in recognition of accomplishments by leaders in the Canadian mining industry. The Hall was established in 1988; in 2022 it ha ...
*
Canadian scientists This is a list of Canadians, people who are identified with Canada through residential, legal, historical, or cultural means, grouped by their area of notability. Architects * Hans Blumenfeld OC (1892–1988) – architect and city planner * ...
*
Canadian space program The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; french: Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The president is Lisa Campbell, who took the position on September 3, 2020 ...
*
Canadian university scientific research organizations Expenditures by Canadian universities on scientific research and development accounted for about 40% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2006. Research in the natural and social sciences in Canada, with a few importa ...
*
CP Ships CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships fr ...
*
Economic history of Canada Canadian historians until the 1960s tended to focus on the history of Canada's economy because of the far fewer political, economic, religious and military conflicts present in Canadian history than in other societies. Many of the most prominent ...
*
Energy policy of Canada Canada has access to all main sources of energy including oil and gas, coal, hydropower, biomass, solar, geothermal, wind, marine and nuclear. It is the world's second largest producer of uranium, third largest producer of hydro-electricit ...
*
History of the petroleum industry in Canada The Canadian petroleum industry arose in parallel with that of the United States. Because of Canada's unique geography, geology, resources and patterns of settlement, however, it developed in different ways. The evolution of the petroleum sector ...
*
Internet in Canada Canada ranks as the 21st in the world for Internet usage with 31.77 million users as of July 2016 (est), making up 89.8% of the population. According to Harvard researchers, Canada has some of the lowest internet standards among OECD countries, a ...
*
List of aircraft of the Canadian Air Force This is a list of aircraft of Canada's air forces. Aircraft are listed for the following organizations: * Canadian Aviation Corps (1914–1915) which operated a single Burgess-Dunne tailless floatplane * Canadian Air Force (CAF) (1920&ndash ...
*
List of airlines of Canada This is a list of airlines of Canada which have an Air Operator Certificate issued by Transport Canada, the civil aviation authority of Canada. Please see lists of airlines by provinces or territories for sorted lists. Note: Airlines in have sc ...
*
List of airports in Canada List of airports in Canada is an organized list of registered airports and certified aerodromes in Canada. Due to the size of the list it has been broken down into the following: See also * Transport in Canada * Wikipedia:WikiProject Aviation ...
*
List of bridges in Canada This is a list of bridges and viaducts in Canada, including those for pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Historical and architectural interest bridges There are only a few covered bridges left in Canada compared to all those that were built in t ...
*
List of Canadian Navy ships A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
List of infantry weapons and equipment of the Canadian military This is a list of Infantry weapons used by the Canadian Military throughout its history and military arms used by militaries in pre-Confederation conflicts in Canada. Colonial Era to Confederation (1604 - 1867) Black powder rifles, carb ...
*
List of reservoirs and dams in Canada This is a list of dams and water reservoirs in Canada. Alberta * Bassano Dam * Bearspaw Dam *Bighorn Dam * Brazeau Dam * Cascade Dam *Dickson Dam * Ghost Dam *Glenmore Reservoir * Interlakes Dam *Milk River Ridge Reservoir * Old Man River Dam * ...
*
Nuclear power in Canada Nuclear power in Canada is provided by 19 commercial reactors with a net capacity of 13.5 gigawatt (GW), producing a total of 95.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, which accounted for 16.6% of the country's total electric energy generation i ...
*
Science and technology in Canada Science and technology in Canada consists of three distinct but closely related phenomena: * the diffusion of technology in Canada * scientific research in Canada * innovation, invention and industrial research in Canada In 2019, Canada spent ...
* Scientific research in Canada


References


Further reading


External links


Canadian Institute for Advanced Research: Science

Canadian Encyclopedia: Science



Innovation in Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Technological And Industrial History Of Canada Industrial history of Canada Science and technology in Canada