Group 2
Pages 221-238
Presented By:
Tawnya Chomiak, Ken Conrad, Jamie
Brown, Eric Brodie, and Yual Chiek
Immigration and Colonization
• 1862 Bureau became a separate department
Policy of economical land
• 1854 immigration decrease to the St.
Lawrence region
• Competition for settlers increases
British effort in the Maritimes
• 1713-63 English mercantile policy
expanded in Maritimes
• 1749 Halifax founded for military defense
• End of Civil was English loyalists move to
Acadia
• With the loss of the 13 colonies, Britain
believed that Nova Scotia could supply the
West Indies
1783
•
Shift from increasing settlement to more
intensive use of resources
•
Funding of Loyalists to settle St. John
River valley
•
Profitable activities were non-agricultural
(fishing, lumbering, trapping)
1805
•
Bread-Corn Bounty enacted to encourage
agricultural settlement
1815
•
End of European and American Wars resulting
in the end of Bread-Corn Bounty
1818
•
Series of letters from Agricola result in
formation of a Central Board of Agriculture (the
CBA did little to improve the agriculture situation)
1820
•
Emigrant Aid and Agricultural Society
movement began
1826
•
End of CBA
1826 – 1841
•
Prosperity
1841
•
New CBA formed, local societies
abundant
1859
•
Central Agricultural Society created
1885
•
CBA abolished and replaced by a
Secretary of Agriculture
Maritimes Agriculture
- -Approaching confederation maritime focused on
husbandry
- -Land conditions were more suited to livestock than
agriculture
- - Prince Edward Island was only maritime province
considered agricultural land prior to confederation
- - Famous fore horses, hay, oats, sheep, beef, pork
and bacons,
- -Provided breeding stock for other colonies
• - PEI had no choice but to develop agriculture
because there were no other resources
• - Domestic stalemate in representation in the
Canada's and the increase of reluctance of the
imperial government to maintain the burden of
colonial defense
• - Need existed to create union
• - Needed to be national economy because two
other alternatives had disappeared a) imperial
economic system b) continental economic
integration due to removal of British economic
reciprocity in 1854 and 1866
• - Also intensified by success of Americans
and confederation provided way to
withstand pressure from the south
- Needed some policies to create economic
unit in British North America
National Policy
• - National policy was formula for creation of
nation
• - System of tariffs were central to the policy
• - National Policy generally refers specifically to
the system of tariffs
• - The national policy is more encompassing and
included additional components
• - Tariffs were for protection of economy as well as
a source of revenue
• - The national policy predated national
government
• - Required a) national constitution= British North
America Act of 1867
• -BNA allowed for removal of trade barriers
between colonies= means to complete an
intercontinental railway by national government
• -Transformation required new areas of resources
to be used to promote the economy; direction
towards Rupert’s Land and Pacific colonies even
before Confederation
• Could be pursued by presence of national
government= could easily obtain ownership and
provide transportation facilities
• - Needed western land settlement
• - Arable land could be used to attract immigrant to
bring in revenue for railway-building
• - System of protective tariffs necessary to complete
transformation
• - Economic objective was to create new frontier of
investment opportunities for commercial and
financial interests in St. Lawrence area.
• - Interests thought of investment in terms of largescale agricultural settlement and immigration
• - Dependent on many factors one of is the extent of
the agricultural economy that is being created
Effectiveness of nation Policy
• a) 1900 to 1930 4.5 million immigrants came to
Canada 3 times as many as came in the past 50
years; doubling population to 10 377 000
• b) 1901 8% of pop. lived on prairies, 1931 almost
¼ lived there, prairie pop. increased five fold to 2
354 000
• c) farms increased sevenfold to 300 000 farms,
acreage improved to 60 million acres
• d) wheat went from 25 million acres and by 1920
wheat became most valuable Canadian export ex.
1901 was < $10 million and 1929= $496 million
• -Before agricultural settlement could begin and be
successful certain criteria had to be met. a) North
West Territories had to be acquired from Hudson
Bay Company
• - June 22 1869 measure passed by Canadian
Parliament to arrange acquisition of Rupert’s land
and the NWT and provide government for the
region.
• -Transfer of Rupert’s land was arranged from the
company to the Queen arranged between company
and the imperial government
• - Finally finished with re-transfer from the Queen
to the Dominion of Canada by Dec. 1, 1869
• - Summer of 1869 Dominion sent survey parties to
locate the meridian line 98 degrees which was to
be basis of future survey
• - They surveyed over Metis lots which caused the
Red River Rebellion and caused the transfer to be
delayed until 1870
• - Many of the settler’s demands were granted by
the Manitoba Act of 1870, one major exception
was control of material resources.
• - June 8, 1870 the company surrendered it’s charter
to the Crown and all of the NWT was transferred
to the Dominion of Canada
• - Terms of transfer were that HBC was to receive
300 000 pounds, 1/20 of the fertile belt plus 50 000
acres around trading post
• - Second criteria was a sure product to support
settlement and that could be marketed profitably
• Needed a fast maturing wheat; 1870’s Red Fife
was developed in Ontario it matured in 115-125
days, 1904 Marquis was developed by Dr.
Saunders at Indian Head matured in 114 days. In
1920’s Garnet was developed to mature in 100
days
• - Third requirement for development of
western lands was to construct
transportation and communication facilities
• -Even though steam boats existed this
requirement was not met until completion
of the CPR in 1885
• Last requirement was a system of land
survey and land grants
Western Canadian Land Policy
• - Developed to meet two critical needs; pay for the
construction of railroads and purchase of lands
while encouraging settlement, thus an effective
land grant system and survey was vital
• - Survey was relatively simple because it was
technical while the land grant system was more
complex because it was a political matter; many
attempts were made before it worked properly
Survey System in Western
Canada
• - Based on the American system but
improved upon because Canada's learned
from American mistakes
• - Included formation of blocks of 36
sections called townships
• - Each section contained 640 acres plus 40
acres for roads 66` wide
Land grants
• Metis Grant
– Dominion provided 1 400 000 acres for
families of Metis residents
– 1874 issued scrip of $160 toward the purchase
of Dominion lands to heads of Metis families
Railway land grants
• At first provided 50 million acres grant, 20
miles deep and 6-12 miles wide on each
side. Resulted in 40 mile belt.
• 1873 CPR Pacific Scandal
• 1878 railway complete to Winnipeg
• 1879 offering a grant of 100m acres for
building railroad
• 1881- new CPR syndicate formed
– The CPR received less land, it would gain in
traffic what it lost in land sales
• 1885 CPR was complete.
– The only railway that has never gone broke
• About 12 companies got land grants
averaging about 1 000 000 acres each.
Eventually 6 became absorbed by CPR.
School land grants
• 1872 – Domination Lands Act provided land
grants to fund schools and education
• Eastern Canada had poor administration of school
land grants
• The average price for school land: Manitoba
$9.79, Saskatchewan $16.85, and Alberta $14.40
• The net proceeds to the Prairie Provinces from
sale of school lands from 1870 to1930 was $65
555 268.
Free Homestead Legislation
• 1872 – Dominion Lands Act granted 160
acre homesteads
– The farmer had to settle on a quarter and pay a
fee of $10; in the 1st year had to break 10 acres;
in the 2nd year he hand to seed those 10 acres
and break 15 more; and in the 3rd year, the
previously broken 25 acres had to be seeded
and 15 more had to broken
Odd-numbered sections in the
belts A through E
A – 10 miles
B – 15 miles
C – 20 miles
D – 20 miles
E – 50 miles
@$6 acre
@$5
@$3.50
@$2
@$1
• Eventually even-numbered land section
were opened. It was discovered that the
CPR would make more from the traffic of
rapid settlement
• CPR grants were sold at a low-price. CPR
$7.63 VS Hudson Bay Co. $12.10
• With the opening of the even-numbered
sections farms were not a land locked.
• 1908 all railroad grants were liquidated and
the remaining lands were thrown open for
homesteads. This shows that the
homestead system worked.
Preemption and Purchased
Homesteads
• Policy decisions were made in Ottawa by people
who knew little about agriculture in western
Canada
• Some areas of 160 acres could not maintain a
family
• To solve preemption was permitted
• If successful with the 1st 160 acres another 160
acres would be granted at a price of $1-3/acre
• 1908 –Preemption was restricted to an area in
width from Calgary to Moose Jaw and in
depth from North Battleford to the US border
- Priced at $3 acre for an adjoining quarter
• 1930 –homestead system came to a close,
total homesteaded acres were 58 million
Major Effects of Land Policy
• 1) Immediate overpopulation in certain
areas of the prairies were out-migration was
needed
• 2) Rapid settlement lead to labor shortages
• 3) Some area was undeveloped, and other
area were cultivated in unsuitable areas
Conclusion
• The delay in agriculture created an
environment suitable for the expansion of
government, in areas beyond land policy
Discussion/ Questions