Technological and industrial history of Canada
The technological and industrial history of Canada encompasses the country's development in the areas of
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 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.[1] At the other end of the scale, common parlance limits the term's meaning to specific industrial arts.
Stone Age: Fire (14,000 BC – AD 1600)
The diffusion of technology in what is now Canada began with the arrival of the first
These people brought with them
In the Arctic, the
Transportation techniques were simple. The aboriginal peoples did not have the wheel, horses or the sail. The paddle powered
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, dried powdered meat mixed with fat, berries and "vegetables". In central Canada, there was limited agriculture 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.
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
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,
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 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.[3]
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 and brigantine, and the popular barque, 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
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 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 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. Work on what would be called the, "longest street in the world", formally known as Yonge Street, began in York (Toronto), in 1795 under the direction of Deputy Surveyor General Augustus Jones. 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.[4] The period also saw the construction a number of important canals, including the Rideau Canal, Ottawa–Kingston, 1820, the Lachine Canal, 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 and 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
Energy
Wind power was used to some to turn the sails of the windmill, which did not come into widespread use. However
. 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) frequented the waters of Newfoundland and the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence 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) 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
The techniques for the production of beer 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, then as now was of vital interest to individuals and to the functioning of the economy. The first coin 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 and other banks.
Materials
The Europeans brought with them
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
Wood ash became a significant export during this period. Potash 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.[5]
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
Domestic technology
The first
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 in 1645 and the organ (music) in 1661. Quebec City boasted of Canada's first piano 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:
Steam Age (1830–1880)
The pace of diffusion quickened in the 19th century with the introduction of such technologies as steam power and the
Steam power
One of the largest trans-Atlantic steamship lines was established in Montreal in 1854. The
The first steam locomotive-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).[6]
One of the great engineering works of the world, the Canadian Pacific Railway 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 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
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, 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 of 1884.
Communication
Canada's initial
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 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.
The newspaper benefited from the introduction of the telegraph and the
Energy and oil
Drilling for oil 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. 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.
The discovery of oil and gas led to the construction of Canada's first energy
Coal gas public street lighting systems were introduced in Montreal in 1838, in Toronto in 1841 and in Halifax in 1850. Coal gasification 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
Industrial textile 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
Industrial techniques and processes
The
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 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 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
The mass production of clothing 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, as part of a continuous operation.
The technology of photography 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. 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.
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
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
In many cases the only technique for dealing with infectious disease was quarantine and this was the case for
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 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 in the 1880s, made popular by Crapper in Great Britain at that time.
Coal gas public
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, 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, Toronto, 1864, the Toronto Central Prison, Toronto, 1873, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Montreal, 1873, Stony Mountain, Manitoba, 1877, New Westminster, British Columbia, 1878 and Dorchester Penitentiary, New Brunswick, 1880. Civilians convicted of capital crimes (capital punishment in Canada) 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
The
Church architecture and construction advanced with the completion of
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.
Early Electric Age (1880–1900)
Energy and electricity
Public
Initially electricity was generated using a technique that produced
Transportation
With the electrification of cities, large and small, came the electric
The
In 1891, the newly formed Canadian Pacific Steamship Lines began offering trans-Pacific steamship 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 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) was established in 1880.
New printing technologies and the availability of this new material, newsprint, had a dramatic effect on the newspaper 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
The techniques of filmmaking 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, inventor of the gramophone 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 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, founded in 1891, in Ottawa, and Canadian Car and Foundry established in Montreal in 1909, was also of note. Dominion Bridge Company 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
The growth of western agriculture stimulated the growth of the eastern
Industrial processes and techniques
Metal mining also became a significant industry during this period. The invention of the electric dynamo,
The techniques of coal mining 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.[9]
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
Materials
Railway and locomotive construction in the latter 19th century created a huge demand for steel.
Portland cement 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 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 related health concerns were identified.
The pulp and paper industry 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
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
The cigarette 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
Industrial textile production became important at this time. Large powered automatic looms were able to produce vast quantities of fabric. The most notable Canadian venture in this field was Dominion Textile. 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, Niagara Falls, 1897 and the Alexandra Bridge, Ottawa, Ontario – Hull, Quebec, 1900.
Baseball 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 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. 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. The first in Canada was the eight-storey New York Life Insurance Co Building in Montreal, 1887–1889, 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
Church architecture and construction was also notable as seen in the completion of Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, 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, 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 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 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 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.
20th century
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
- Canadian industrial research and development organizations
- Canadian inventions
- Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
- Canadian scientists
- Canadian space program
- Canadian university scientific research organizations
- CP Ships
- Economic history of Canada
- Energy policy of Canada
- History of the petroleum industry in Canada
- Internet in Canada
- List of aircraft of the Canadian Air Force
- List of airlines of Canada
- List of airports in Canada
- List of bridges in Canada
- List of Canadian Navy ships
- List of infantry weapons and equipment of the Canadian military
- List of reservoirs and dams in Canada
- Nuclear power in Canada
- Science and technology in Canada
- Scientific research in Canada
References
- ^ Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society, trans. John Wilkinson (New York: Random House, 1964)
- ^ Wright, J.W., A History of the Native Peoples of Canada: Volumes I(2001) and II(1999), Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa
- ^ Wilson, Garth, A History of Shipbuilding and Naval Architecture in Canada, Transformation Series 4, National Museum of Science and Technology, Ottawa, 1994
- ^ Guillet, Edwin C., The Story of Canadian Roads, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1967
- ^ Bliss, Michael, Northern Enterprise: Five Centuries of Canadian Business, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1987, p. 111.
- ^ McDonnell, The History of Canadian Railroads, New Burlington Books, London, 1985
- ^ Warrington, Newbold, Chemical Canada: Past and Present, The Chemical Institute of Canada, Ottawa, 1970
- ^ Ball, Norman R. ed., Building Canada: A History of Public Works, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1988
- ^ Muise, McIntosh, Coal Mining in Canada: A Historical and Comparative Overview, Transformation Series 5, National Museum of Science and Technology, Ottawa, 1996
- ^ web site, www.clockscanada.com