History of cities in Canada
Encyclopedia
Over the last 14,000 years, the territory that is now called Canada has evolved from a place without human habitation, to one characterized by a relatively small number of medium- to large-sized cities. Canada's cities are strung like beads on a chain, across the continent from east to west, close to Canada's border with the United States, and are home to most of Canada's 33,000,000 inhabitants.
Geographic determinism
is the idea that favourable geographic features are an essential determinant of human behaviour. Favourable factors could influence the success of a city; examples include a benign climate, proximity to transportation corridors, usable groundwater, rain, a stable and flat or gently undulating terrain for construction, a benevolent hinterland, and proximity to markets. However, a geographically attractive location alone is not enough for a city to flourish. Favourable human factors, including economics, technology, social conditions, and politics are also necessary for the establishment and growth of cities.
or lived in one. They were few in number compared to the size of the new continent and most lived a nomadic subsistence lifestyle, following the migration of animal herds that provided food. However they were influenced by geographic factors in the selection of locations for the temporary settlements and villages that they established and inhabited on a cyclical seasonal basis. Many of these would later serve as sites for Canadian cities that would be founded thousands of years later.
However cities were slow to grow in this new world. Those who arrived did so within a colonial and mercantile context that emphasized the exploitation of the colony for economic purposes at a minimum of Imperial expense. Cities being expensive to create and administer, their growth was slow during the colonial period. It was also a period of conflict between England and France, (rival colonial powers until 1763) and between Britain and the USA from that date until the mid-nineteenth century. This turmoil discouraged the development of cities.
Montreal - 1642:
The area now known as Montreal has been a place of human habitation by Canada's native peoples for the last 8000 years . The first European, Jacques Cartier
, reached the site in 1535, however it was only in 1639 that the first permanent white settlement was established by Frenchman Jerome Le Royer, leading to the establishment of Ville Marie, a Roman Catholic mission, in 1642.
After a series of brutal attacks by the Iroquois, defending their territory, the arrival of new colonists in 1653 ensured the future of the city. The settlement became a fur trading centre but endured continuous raids by warring Iroquois until the Great Peace of 1701 guaranteed its safety.
After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, all the French territory in North America, including Ville Marie, became part of British North America. The town was subjected to invasion and a brief occupation by American forces in 1775, but they were subsequently routed and Montreal retaken by the British, with Canadian and Indian help.
The arrival of British immigrants and the establishment of the North West Company
, fur trading rival to the Hudson's Bay Company
, with headquarters in Ville Marie, ushered in an era of growth and prosperity. The Eagle Foundry of Montreal built the Äccommodation¨, Canada's first steam powered vessel. The opening of the Lachine Canal in 1825 reinforced the location as a port. Coal gas street lighting was introduced in 1838.
The City of Montreal was established in 1832 with 27,000 inhabitants. During the period of its primarily European history, Montreal initially had a Francophone majority but Anglophone immigration tipped the balance by about 1830. From 1844 to 1849 Montreal served as the capital of the United Province of Canada.
Economic forces were also at play. The repeal of the Corn Laws
in Britain in 1846 provided a symbolic end to the era of mercantilism
and ushered in the era of capitalism. Private investment, mostly from Britain, provided the foundation for a nascent industrial structure based on transportation (the steam train), construction, electricity, public works, heavy manufacturing, consumer and industrial services and related financial institutions.
The introduction of a number of technological innovations also supported city growth, including the telegraph, water and sewer systems, the telephone
, urban transit, the electric light
, the skyscraper
, central heating
and the techniques of light and heavy manufacturing. These new transportation and communications technologies also led to the creation of a new ïnter-urban network of cities which contributed to their growth based on mutual interaction.
The fading fear of attack by the USA provided a peaceful context for urban growth and the movement away from colonialism
towards democracy
gave urban dwellers the power to influence the shape of their cities.
The construction of universities and cultural facilities in cities put a more human face on the harsh environment.
The British North America Act, an act of the British Parliament, which established an independent and democratic Canada in 1867, reflected the rural character of the country at that time. Of a population of 3,600,000 almost 2,900,000 were rural dwellers while 700,000 lived in cities. The political forces at play involved both federal and provincial powers. Therefore the BNA Act provided areas of exclusive jurisdiction for federal and provincial governments. Because cities were not predominant, the allocation of taxing powers for the financing of their growth, was left in the hands of the provinces. This would have important negative consequences a century later.
The Canadian Pacific Railway
, created to realize the dream of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald
for a transcontinental nation, was almost solely responsible for the emergence of the cities of western Canada during these years.
In Quebec, the Roman Catholic Church worked to maintain the rural nature of Quebec society, in the belief that this would help preserve the Catholic nature of the population and reinforce the Church's strength. One notable example of this policy was seen in the church sponsored attempt to ¨colonize¨ the rural Abitibi region of the province by farmers in the early twentieth century. The project failed because the region was only marginally suited to agriculture. This policy served to militate against urban growth in that province.
Furthermore the nature of immigration limited the growth of cities in Quebec. Most immigrants to Canada during these years were English- speaking and preferred to settle in large cities, including Montreal with an existing English speaking population. On the other hand there were few French-speaking immigrants and the mostly French-speaking cities elsewhere in the province, including Quebec City and Trois-Rivières could not rely on this source for growth.
Emigration too had a negative effect on the growth of cities in Quebec. Around 1900, economic conditions in Quebec were very difficult and about 1,000,000 French-speaking Canadians left the province looking for work in the textile mills of New England.
By 1901, cities had grown to a point where the Union of Canadian Municipalities was formed to represent their interests.
¨. The main buildings, serving residential, commercial and industrial functions, were made of wood or stone, mostly four to five stories tall and self supporting. Streets were of dirt or occasionally cobblestone and strewn with garbage and human excrement. Animals wandered about and horses were everywhere, solo, with rider or pulling wagons or carriages. In larger cities public transit was provided by horse cars on rails. Gas lights provided illumination at night. The force of life was provided by muscle power, animal or human.
This changed rapidly. The introduction of the self-supporting steel framed building in the 1880s led to the construction of skyscrapers of six floors and more. The introduction of electricity and telephones was marked by the installation of hundreds of telephone and hydro poles along city streets, supporting electric and telephone cables. Electric street lighting replaced gas lights. The construction of water and sewer systems eliminated human waste from the urban living space. The introduction of municipal garbage collection reduced the presence of garbage.
In the latter part of the century, the rise of the new middle class
created a demand for housing beyond the city core. This was met by private contractors building individual homes on single lots in newly created suburbs, adjacent to the downtown core. Public transport
was provided by the extension of the new electric powered streetcar to the suburbs. The downtown core began to lose its residential vocation and became a space increasingly devoted to commerce, industry and to a lesser extent, public life.
In the new century the introduction of the car
began to make its own dramatic mark. By 1920, the horse was gone, most cities had paved roads in the downtown core and main paved roads served the rising numbers of cars in the suburbs. At this point the Canadian city came to resemble what we see today.
Transportation made Montreal. Situated at the head of the S. Lawrence River, it became Canada's major port and rail centre. Ships from overseas arrived bringing goods and immigrants. First the Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers
in 1854 followed by Canadian Pacific Steamship Lines in 1903 operated trans Atlantic passenger liners to Britain. Shippers from the Great Lakes system, notably Canada Steamship Lines Inc.
brought grain for export.
The great Western Railway from Montreal to Windsor went into operation in 1854 carrying passengers and goods into the hinterland, followed by the Grand Trunk Railway from Montreal to Sarnia in 1860. The Canadian Pacific Railway
(CPR) one of the great railway companies of the world, established its headquarters there. The huge CPR Angus Shops
(1904) and Montreal Locomotive Works
(1901) formed the heart of Canada's heavy industrial capability, building steam engines and rolling stock for the railways. Canadian Car and Foundry
manufactured street cars.
Other major manufacturing industries, grew along the Lachine Canal
(1825), including Redpath Sugar
, Darling and Brady, soap manufacturers, the St. Lawrence Glass Company, the Canadian Rubber Company, Laing Packing and Provisions (1852) and Belding Paul & Co. silk manufacturers provided consumer and industrial goods. The Imperial Tobacco Company (1912) became Canada's largest manufacturer of cigarettes. Morgans, Canada's first department store, opened its doors in 1845. The Montreal Telegraph Company, began offering service in 1847 and Canadian Marconi Company (CMC Electronics) was formed in Montreal in 1903.
Financing for this activity was provided by the banks of St. James Street (Saint Jacques Street
) which became the heart of Canada's financial sector anchored by the Bank of Montreal
(1817) and the Montreal Stock Exchange, founded in 1872.
Canada's first skyscraper, the eight-storey New York Life Insurance Company Building, was built in 1889. The elegant Queen's Hotel opened for business in 1893. In 1875 in Montreal, a McGill student, J. Creighton, established the basic rules for hockey as we know it today. The world's first facility dedicated to hockey, the Westmount Arena, was built in Montreal in 1898.
Engineering works included a steam-powered municipal water system in operation by 1857 and the massive Victoria Bridge (Montreal)
built in 1859. The Montreal City Passenger Railway Company began offering horse-car service in 1861 and converted to electric powered streetcars in 1891. In 1884 the Royal Electric Company began providing electricity to the city.
During the First World War, Montreal became a major producer of munitions. Among other things, cordite was manufactured at Beloeil, Quebec, by Canadian Explosives Limited and at Nobel, Quebec, by British Cordite Limited.
Montreal's place as the largest French-speaking city in North America, as well as the home of a substantial Roman Catholic population, was reinforced by the establishment of Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)
, the initial construction of which was completed in 1830. French language newspapers including La Presse (Canadian newspaper) in 1884 and Le Devoir
in 1910 and the Monument National theatre stood as pillars of cultural life. McGill University
, founded in 1821, and the Montreal Star
(1869) and Montreal Gazette (1785, originally a French language publication) newspapers stood as testaments to the vitality of the English-speaking community.
The Golden Square Mile
, a residential area on the south slope of Mount Royal, became the home of Canada's wealthiest citizens, including William Dow
, John Redpath
, William Notman
, James McGill
, John Molson
, Sir George Simpson (administrator)
and Sir Hugh Allan.
By 1921 the city had 618,000 inhabitants.
Toronto (1834)
As was the case with many Canadian cities, the place now known as Toronto was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, by a number of tribes including the Cayugas, Mohawks, Neutral-Erie, Oneidas, Senecas and Wendat.
Between 1750 and 1759 the French operated a trading post, Fort Rouille, in the area where the Canadian National Exhibition
is now located. The British purchased 250000 acres (1,011.7 km²) of land from the native peoples in 1787 and Governor John Graves Simcoe
chose the site for the capital (which he named York
) of the newly created Upper Canada
. Concerned with military transportation to protect the new colony from US attack, he built roads west to what is now Windsor, east towards Montreal, and north, the present day Yonge Street
.
York was attacked and burned to the ground by the American Army in 1813 and the British, in retaliation, attacked and burned the White House
in Washington to the ground in 1814. Another US attack that same year was defeated. The town was renamed Toronto in 1834 and William Lyon Mackenzie
served as the first mayor.
The growth of Toronto in the latter part of the century was rapid, with the population passing from 30,000 in 1851 to 56,000 in 1871, to 86,400 by 1881 and to 181,000 by 1891. In part this was due to Irish immigration resulting from the Great Irish Famine between 1845 and 1849. The presence of the Roman Catholic Irish among Protestants led to racial tension, culminating in the Julibee Riots of 1875.
Toronto's rise to prominence was initiated by the arrival of the train and telegraph. The railways connected Toronto to a wide hinterland. The Great Western Railway, from Montreal to Toronto to Windsor, was completed in 1854 and the Grand Trunk Railway
, from Montreal to Toronto to Sarnia, in 1869. Along with the railways came the telegraph. Toronto was the first Canadian city to get service when it was introduced by the Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Co. in 1846.
Industrial mass production, in this case of clothing, became part of Toronto's fabric. 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. It used the newly introduced sewing machine as part of a continuous operation. William E. Davies established Canada's first large-scale hog slaughterhouse
in Toronto in 1874.
Toronto became the home of the first plastics produced in Canada. The Rathburn Company of Toronto began to produce wood 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, from the oxidation of wood alcohol, in 1909. This latter product was an essential element in the production of the fully synthetic, phenol-formaldehyde plastic (Bakelite).
Heavy manufacturing took hold in nearby cities. General Electric Canada, founded by Thomas Edison in nearby Peterborough in 1892, contributed to heavy manufacturing techniques through the fabrication of large electric generators and electric motors, 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. Steel mills were established there as well.
Public services improved city life. A steam-powered municipal water pumping
station was in service in Toronto by 1841, the same year that coal gas street lighting was introduced. Horsecar service began in Toronto in 1861. It was operated by the Toronto Street Railways until 1892, when it was replaced by electric streetcar service. The Toronto Power House and the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario began offering electricity to that city and the province in 1906.
The growth of the city could be seen in the construction of skyscrapers. The first self-supporting steel-framed skyscraper in Canada was the Robert Simpson Department Store at the corner of Yonge and Queen with six floors and electric elevators, built in 1895. This was followed by the Traders Bank of Canada, (15 floors, Yonge Street, 1905), the Canadian Pacific Building, (16 floors, 1913), the Royal Bank, (20 floors, 1915), the Royal York Hotel, 1929, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, in 1931. Canada's first escalator was installed in 1904 at Eaton's Department Store on Queen Street.
The beginnings of the rise of Toronto as the cultural capital of Canada were seen in the establishment in 1827 of what would become the University of Toronto
and the founding of The Globe (later the Globe and Mail)in 1844. Book publishing also took root. Publishers of note included Musson Book Company, 1894, G.N. Morang, 1897, McLeod & Allen, 1901, the University of Toronto Press, 1901, Oxford University Press, 1904, John C. Winston, 1904, Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd., 1905, McClelland and Goodchild, 1906, (later McClelland and Stewart), Cassell and Company Limited, 1907, J.M. Dent and Sons, 1913 and Thomas Nelson and Sons Limited, 1913. Performing arts space was expanded with the completion of the Grand Opera House, in 1874, Massey Hall
in 1894 and the Royal Alexandra Theatre
in 1907. The Canadian National Exhibition
, established in 1878 became a prominent feature of city and Canadian life.
With continued growth the city began to expand at the periphery and newly created adjacent towns were annexed. They included West Toronto, East Toronto, Parkdale and Brockton Village.
Vancouver(1886)
Evidence indicates that native peoples, notably the Coast Salish, inhabited the area that became Vancouver for about 10,000 years before the arrival of the white man. The first Europeans to explore the area included Spanish Captain José María Narváez in 1791 and British Captain George Vancouver
in 1792. During his exploration Vancouver met with another Spanish expedition in the command of Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores. Simon Fraser
was the first white man to reach the area overland, which he did in 1808. However, native resistance to the presence of settlement was strong and it was not until 1862 that the first white settlement, the McCleery Farm, was established in what is now known as the Southlands district of Vancouver.
A year later, Moodyville was established on the north shore of Burrard Inlet
as home to lumbering activity and a sawmill. Stamps Mill (1867) was established on the south shore of the Inlet in what is now downtown Vancouver. The quality of Vancouver lumber quickly gained a worldwide reputation and was used to provide masts for the Royal Navy
and in the construction of the Gate of Heavenly Peace in the Forbidden City
, Beijing.
A saloon built a mile to the west of Stamps Mill soon became an area of settlement eventually known as Gastown
. It was named in honour of the talkative saloon owner ¨Gassy¨ John Deighton. The area was surveyed by the British colonial administrators and formally renamed Granville in 1871. The construction of the first federal penitentiary in New Westminster in 1878, bore witness to the lawlessness of the region.
The CPR made Vancouver. William Van Horne, President of the CPR, chose the area as the western terminus for the transcontinental railway and renamed it Vancouver in 1886. Along with the railway came transcontinental telegraph service, also operated by Canadian Pacific. Stanley Park
was established by the new city council and a disastrous fire destroyed the city that same year. A new city quickly arose from the ashes complete with a modern water system, the cities' first sewer system in 1886, electricity in 1887 and streetcar services.
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.In 1902, Canadian Pacific completed a trans-Pacific cable telegraph, linking Vancouver with Australia and New Zealand. This reinforced Vancouver's position as a Pacific transportation and communication gateway.
The population of the city mushroomed passing from about 5,000 in 1886 to 42,000 in 1900 and it became, in the process, Canada's third largest City. The appearance of the skyscraper provided visual evidence of growth, the first being the Dominion Building, (13 floors), in 1910, followed by the World (Sun) Tower, (17 floors), in 1912.
Vancouver society was especially turbulent during these years. The First War saw two general strikes and the city was hit by depression in the 1890s, 1919, 1923 and 1929. Racism was also present. The presence of a large number of Chinese in Vancouver, located there as a result of immigration to work on the CPR, lead to serious anti-Chinese rioting organized in part by the Asiatic Exclusion League
in 1907. In 1914, 376 prospective Punjabi immigrants arriving aboard the ship Komataga Maru were refused entry into Canada on a technicality, the enforcement of which was racially inspired. They were forced to return to India.
After the first war working class neighbourhoods including Mount Pleasant, South Vancouver and Grandview-Woodland began to appear. The CPR established Point Grey for development as an exclusive neighbourhood in 1908. Shaughnessy Heights was also established for the well heeled.
The founding of the University of British Columbia
in 1915 represented a significant development in the cultural field.
The production of wealth also became concentrated in cities during this period. Rural production (fishing
, forestry
, agriculture
, mining
), was outstripped by urban manufacturing and the service sectors. In 2008, about 90 percent of Canada's economy was urban based.
including, roads, public transit, electric, water and sewer systems. Canada's mostly white, Christian population also provided a homogeneity of values that created a calm and harmonious context for growth.
City growth was somewhat stunted during the depression years of the thirties but experienced industrial growth during the hot house years of World War II
and the boom associated with pent-up consumer demand in the post war years. This boom was accompanied and fueled be immigration, mostly from Europe.
The establishment of the Dominion Conference of Mayors in 1935 was symptomatic of growth of Canadian cities during these years. In 1937, this organization fused with the Union of Canadian Municipalities to become the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities. This organization was renamed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
in 1976.
Montreal had a population of 618,000 in 1921, which grew to 1.2 million in 1971.
The twenties saw many changes in the city and the introduction of new technologies continued to have a prominent impact. The introduction of the car in large numbers began to transform the nature of the city. The world's first commercial radio station, XWA began broadcasting in 1920. A huge mooring mast for dirigibles was constructed in St. Hubert in anticipation of trans-Atlantic lighter-that-air passenger service, but only one craft, the R-100, visited in 1930 and the service never developed. However Montreal became the eastern hub of the Trans-Canada Airway in 1939.
Film production became a part of the city activity. Associated Screen News of Canada in Montreal produced two notable newsreel series, "Kinograms" in the twenties and "Canadian Cameo" from 1932 to 1953. The making of documentary films grew tremendously during World War II with the creation of the National Film Board of Canada
, in Montreal, in 1939. By 1945 it was one of the major film production studios in the world with a staff of nearly 800 and over 500 films to its credit including the very popular, "The World in Action" and "Canada Carries On", series of monthly propaganda films. Other developments in the cultural field included the founding of Université de Montréal
in 1919 and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
in 1934. The Montreal Forum
, built in 1924 became the home ice rink of the fabled Montreal Canadiens hockey team.
Dr. Wilder Penfield
, with a grant from the US Rockefeller Foundation
founded the Montreal Neurological Institute
at the Royal Victoria Hospital (Montreal), in 1934 to study and treat epilepsy and other neurological diseases. Research into the design of nuclear weapons was conducted at the Montreal Laboratory of the National Research Council of Canada
during WWII.
In the post-war years Canada formalized its wartime shortwave radio broadcasting activities with the creation of Radio Canada International
. In 1945, this international radio broadcasting service was established with production facilities in Montreal and a huge shortwave transmitter site at Sackville, New Brunswick. Television was introduced to Canada by CBC
, first in the French language by CBFT in Montreal on 6 September 1952. Radio-Canada established extensive production facilities for French-language programming, especially in the field of television drama. In the early seventies TVA
also established a dynamic presence in this field.
The Norgate Shopping Centre, Saint-Laurent, Quebec (1949) and the Dorval Shopping Centre, Dorval, Quebec (1950), were the first shopping centres built in Canada. In 1951 the first St. Hubert BBQ restaurant opened its doors on St-Hubert street in Montreal.
The completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway, in 1959, the Trans-Canada Highway
, in 1962, Autoroutes 20 and 40 in Quebec and Highway 401, in Ontario, in 1968 strengthened Montreal's connection with other Canadian cities and with the continent. The construction of the Montreal Subway, in 1966 and Underground Montreal in the mid-sixties eased pedestrian movement in the downtown core and the suburbs. The World Fair, Expo 67
brought Montreal to the attention of the world as never before. La Ronde (amusement park)
became Canada’s largest amusement park when it opened in 1967 as part of Expo ’67.
Canada's first heart transplant was performed on 31 May 1968, by Dr. Pierre Godin the Chief Surgeon at the Montreal Heart Institute
, on patient Albert Murphy of Chomedy, Quebec a 59 year old retired butcher suffering from degenerative heart disease. The operation took place about six months after the world's first, by Dr. Christian Barnard.
A number of important skyscrapers were built in the sixties including, Place Ville Marie (Royal Bank), 1962, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Tower, 1962, the Edifice Trust Royal (C.I.L. House), 1962 and the Hôtel Château Champlain, in 1967.
Cultural institutions such at La Presse and Le Devoir
newspapers and the beautiful Place des Arts
(1963) performing arts theatre, symbolized the vigour of the French language in the city as did the development of a very vibrant popular music and theatre scene in the sixties and seventies with noted performers including Robert Charlebois
, Louise Forestier
, Diane Dufresne
, Claude Dubois
, Rene Claude and Denise Pelletier
to name but a handful among dozens. Further intellectual growth was symbolized by the founding of the Université du Québec
in 1968.
The Montreal Forum
was home to the iconic Montreal Canadiens
hockey team which won five Stanley Cup victories in a row from 1955 to 1960 becoming in the process the most successful professional sports team in history up to that time. The star player of the team Maurice Richard
gained a reputation that lives to this day.
However all was not well with the city. The rise of the automobile put an end to streetcar manufacturing in the city. The conversion of the railways from steam to diesel in the fifties resulted in the closure of Montreal's huge locomotive manufacturing facilities. Political turmoil caused by the mailbox bombings of the separatist FLQ in the sixties put a chill into the public and world's perception of the city. The construction of the Boulevard Metropolitaine in the sixties, although it improved traffic low, divided the city along an east west axis. The massive trench of the new north south six-lane Boulevard Decaire divided the city east from west.
However the most dramatic event of all, the election of the separatist Parti Québécois
to power in Quebec City in 1976, resulted in the subsequent exodus of hundreds of thousands of English-speaking Montrealers fearing persecution, to cities elsewhere in Canada.
These cities experienced strong growth during this period that would see them gain national prominence in the latter part of the century.
Toronto: Toronto gained considerable industrial, cultural and demographic strength during the fifty year period from 1920 to 1970.
The industrial strength of Toronto area was reinforced with the establishment in 1918 of an auto production plant by General Motors in nearby Oshawa, where it produced Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Oaklands and by Studebaker Canada Ltd. which produced cars in Hamilton from 1946 to 1966. Steel for the production of these cars came from the nearby mills of Stelco and Dofasco in Hamilton and gasoline, from refineries in Sarnia. The familiar, Canadian Tire, began operations there in 1922 and has become one of Canada's largest retailers. The Trans-Canada Airway was extended to Toronto in 1939.
The founding of what would become the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
in 1922 and the establishment of the CBC radio English-language radio network headquarters with its associated production facilities in the city in 1936 were signal cultural events.
Notable landmarks of the period featured the Royal York Hotel
, built in 1929 and Maple Leaf Gardens
home to the fabled Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, completed in 1931. Important public works included the massive R.C. Harris Filtration Plant, in 1926 and the Queen Elizabeth Way
, completed in 1939.
During the Second World War Toronto became an important centre for the production of weapons including the warplanes manufactured by de Havilland Canada
and Avro Canada
. Military vehicles were produced by General Motors in Oshawa. The Connaught Laboratories (Sanofi-Aventis
) at the University of Toronto produced penicillin for wartime use.
Industrial capacity gained further strength with the establishment in the fifties, by the Ford Motor Company of Canada of a production plant in Oakville, which would eventually become a suburb of Toronto. The signing of the Auto Pact with the US in 1965 created massive investment in auto production facilities in Toronto and southern Ontario.
The University of Toronto Computer Centre, established in 1947, developed Canada’s first operational computer the University of Toronto Electronic Computer (UTEC
) in 1951. This was followed by the purchase of FERUT (Ferranti University of Toronto) computer, by the Computer Centre in 1952.
The CBC owned and operated CBLT-TV, Canada's first English-language television station, with related production facilities, went on the air there on 8 September 1952. The first private television broadcaster, CFTO, began operation in 1961.
Toronto was home to the construction of a number of advanced aircraft in the post-war years including the Avro Canada Jetliner, the Avro CF-100
jet interceptor and the fabled Avro Arrow. However the expense of the latter endeavour in the absence of a significant market forced the AVRO into bankruptcy in 1959.
Electric energy projects in the sixties and seventies included the Lakeview Generating Station, completed in Mississauga, in 1962 and the Nanticoke Generating Station
(largest coal fired plant in North America), in Nanticoke, Ontario, in 1978. In 1971 electricity produced from nuclear power became commercially available to Torontonians and other Ontarians from the large (ultimately 8-unit) Pickering station near Toronto, Ontario.
The field of transportation saw the completion of a number of significant works both local and national. Local works included the Toronto Subway, in 1954 and the GO Transit
rail system in 1967. The PATH system built in the sixties, allowed pedestrians to move about the downtown core using underground passages. National projects with Toronto as a hub or important destination included the Trans-Canada Gas Pipeline, 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1959, the Trans-Canada Highway, completed in 1962, and Highway 401 completed in 1968.
The Sunnybrook Plaza (1951) and York Mills, (1952), became the first shopping centres in the region. Skyscrapers of note included the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower in 1967, The Simpson Tower, 1968, the Royal Trust Tower, 1969.
By 1971 Toronto had a population of 2,630,000.
Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver would experience sustained growth but not enough to make them the metropolis.
Vancouver: In 1921 Vancouver had a population of 232,000.
The opening of the Panama Canal
in 1914 solidified Vancouver's place as Canada's largest western city and the third largest in the country, a place that it holds to this day. The canal made it possible for ships to carry cargo from Vancouver directly to ports in Europe. Freight rates that favoured the use of eastern Canadian ports over Vancouver were eliminated in the twenties and port growth boomed. The Vancouver Harbour Commission was established in 1913 and the shipping activity centred around the Ballentyne Pier, built in 1923, which at the time was the most modern in the British Empire
.
The rise of the automobile lead to the construction of new bridges over False Creek
including: the Granville Street Bridge
, (1889 rebuilt 1954), the Burrard Street Bridge
, 1932, and the Cambie Street Bridge
, (1912 rebuilt 1984). Auto traffic to North Vancouver was facilitated with the construction of the first Second Narrow's Bridge in 1925 and by the completion of the Lion's Gate Bridge, in 1938, across the First Narrows.
Crime was a prominent feature of city life. Vancouver mayor L. D. Taylor
practiced an ¨open town¨ policy that sought to manage activities such as prostitution
, bootlegging
and gambling
, by restricting them to racially oriented areas including Chinatown, Japantown, and Hogan's Alley. He was defeated in 1934 by Mayor McGeer who promised to clean up the city.
In 1931 the population of Vancouver stood at 347,000. In the twenties and thirties Vancouver became the western anchor of a number of national communication and transportation networks. These included the CNR National Radio Network, 1927, Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission Radio Network, 1932, the Trans-Canada Telephone System, 1932, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Radio Network, 1936 and the Trans Canada Airway in 1938.
Cultural life received a boost with the establishment of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
in 1919 and the opening of the Orpheum (Vancouver) theatre in 1927.
By 1941 the population had grown to 394,000. During World War II, the air base at Boundary Bay became an important centre for the training of heavy bomber crews. The city also featured prominently in the construction of ships for the war effort. Fear of an invasion by Japanese naval forces lead to Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry being sent to concentration camps in the BC interior 1942. Many of these citizens were from Vancouver.
In 1951 the population stood at 562,000 and further technologies became available. The Park Royal Shopping Centre, in West Vancouver, became the first in the city in 1950 and Empire Stadium, was built to host the 1954 British Empire Games. Vancouver became the western anchor of the new CBC national television network in 1958 and the western hub of the newly completed Trans-Canada Highway
in 1962. The giant Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal
, was built in 1959 for passenger and vehicle ferry service to southern Vancouver Island and the nearby Roberts Bank Superport
coal terminal was finished in the late sixties. A second, Second Narrow's Bridge was built in 1960 and the W.A.C.Bennett Dam, was completed in 1967.
The establishment of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
in 1959 and of Simon Fraser University
in 1965, enriched city cultural life. Canada’s first purpose-built auto racing track, the Westwood Motorsport Park was built in nearby Coquitlam, that same year. The first McDonald's restaurant outside the United States was opened in Richmond in 1967.
By 1971 Vancouver had a population of 1,000,000.
St. John's, Halifax, Saint John, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon, because of their locations, were not able to develop the weight to become anything more than minor cities.
However, Canadian cities have experienced a number of serious problems due largely to the fact that the increase in population has not been supported as it was earlier in the century. While private inventment has largely continued apace during these years, public expenditures have not been able to match the increasing demand for public services, including, education, health, welfare, public transport and roads and other infrastructure. This is because the constitution, created 100 years before, was developed for a rural country and did not provide adequate taxing mechanisms for the municipal generation of revenue. Constitutionally, cities were creatures of the province. Entrenched resistance to change, especially at the provincial level, that would see more taxing power transferred to the cities, has prevented effective action to remedy this problem.
Furthermore the social harmony and cohesion of values that characterized the golden age have also been eroded by the changing values of the indigenous increasingly secular, individualistic and materialistic population as well as the arrival of immigrants whose diverse views often conflict with those of their adopted country. Pollution, from industry and car exhaust has become a serious problem.
In Quebec the rise of Separatism in the sixties and in particular the election of the Parti Québécois as government in 1976, have had a negative effect on the size of the Anglophone population of the province with attendant results on the growth of cities, especially Montreal.
Importantly, the Auto Pact of 1965 and investments by the Big Three US car makers, General Motors
, Ford and Chrysler
have served to stimulate the growth of the cities of southern Ontario in much the same way that the CPR fuelled the growth of the cities of western Canada 60 years before.
. Population growth has been limited mostly to the suburbs and city boundaries have stretched far into what had been countryside mere decades earlier. With the extension of suburbia the provision of public services has become increasingly expensive as water systems, sewer systems and other structures have radiated from the city core.
Of particular note is the construction of superhighways throughout the sixties and seventies. These massive corridors while designed to move increasing volumes of auto traffic also served to physically divide cities. In Toronto Highway 401 divides the city north/south, the Don Valley Parkway
(1966), east/west and the Gardiner Expressway
(1966) separates the city core from Lake Ontario. In Montreal, the Autoroute Metropolitaine divides the city north/south and Boulevard Decarie, east/west. The Queensway (Ottawa)
in Ottawa divides the city north/south. The presence of cars has become so dominant that a casual observer seeing a city for the first time would assume that the primary inhabitant was the auto.
The displacement of the weight of the residential population from the city centre has begun to remove to market for downtown
services and the downtown cores have begun to deteriorate. The construction of huge ¨ shopping centres¨ in suburbia has accelerated this process. In 2008 the Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimated that it would take $123 billion to restore and repair aging urban infrastructure across Canada.
Although there is deterioration in infrastructure it is important to note that the kind of slums that characterize many cities in the third world and the cores of many US cities, do not exist in Canada.
During the seventies the population of Toronto surpassed that of Montreal. In 1971 the populations of the respective Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) for Toronto and Montreal stood at 2.7 million and 2.6 million. By 1981 Toronto had surpassed Montreal with a population of 3 million versus 2.8 million for Montreal. In 2009 there are 5.5 million people in the Toronto area.
Factors for the growth of Toronto over Montreal included strong immigration, increasingly by people of Asian and Negroid backgrounds, the increasing size of the auto industry in Southern Ontario, due to the signing of the Auto Pact with the US in 1965, a calmer political environment (Quebec experienced two referenda on separation during these years, one in 1980 and the other in 1995), lower personal income taxes than in Quebec and a more benign linguistic/educational environment.
Improved transportation facilities aided growth. Union Station (Toronto)
provided a hub for passenger rail service in the busy Windsor Quebec corridor and a focus for the subway service. Highway 401 provided an artery for automobile traffic east and west. Toronto Pearson International Airport
became Canada's largest and a massive new terminal building was recently completed.
During this period, three of Canada's largest banks became headquartered in Toronto: the Royal Bank of Canada
, the Toronto-Dominion Bank
and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
. These along with the Manulife Financial Corporation, Sun Life Financial Inc. and Toronto Stock Exchange
form the financial district, the financial heart of Canada. Toronto also became the corporate capital of Canada with the majority of Canadian companies having their head offices there. Notable examples include: George Weston Ltd., Onex Corp, Magna International Inc., Wal-Mart Canada Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
Toronto strengthened its position as the cultural centre of English-speaking Canada during these years. The Globe and Mail and the National Post
, two of Canada's most important newspapers have their head offices there. The new CBC Canadian Broadcasting Centre
was completed in 1993 and became the corporation's control facility for English language broadcasting in Canada. Also in 1993 Ryerson Polytechnical Institute gained full university status and became, Ryerson Polytechnic University. Roy Thomson Hall
became the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
in 1982. This along with the newly constructed Princess of Wales Theatre
and the venerable Royal Alexandra Theatre
now form the heart of the theatre district. Cultural institutions including the Art Gallery of Ontario
and the Royal Ontario Museum
have recently had their buildings renovated. The Four Seasons Centre
became the new home of the Canadian Opera Company
and National Ballet of Canada
when completed in 2006. The Toronto Film Festival, established in 1976, has become after Cannes, the most important in the world and now sports a new headquarters, the Bell Lightbox
, opened in 2010. Film production has received a boost with the newly completed, Pinewood Toronto Studios, in the east end on the waterfront. Toronto has also been home to the Hockey Hall of Fame
(1943), since 1961.
The changing high-rise downtown core provided visual evidence of growth. New skyscrapers included, the Royal Trust Tower, 1969, First Canadian Place, 1975, the CN Tower, 1975, Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, 1977, the First Bank Tower, 1979, Scotia Plaza, 1988, the Sky Dome, 1989, the BCE Place–Canada Trust Tower, 1990 and the Bay Wellington Tower, 1990.
Recently constructed skyscrapers include: One King Street West, 2005, West 1, 2005, Harbourview Estates 2, 2005, Residences of College Park 1, Toronto, 2006, Quantum 2 (Minto Midtown), 2008, the Bay Adelaide Centre West, 2009, the RBC Centre, 2009, Success, 2009 and Montage, 2009. Canada's largest theme park, Canada's Wonderland opened in 1981.
Public administration was streamlined when the governments of Toronto and its five adjacent municipalities Etobicoke, North York, East York, York, and Scarborough were fused to form a ¨megacity¨ in 1998. The political heart of the City, Nathan Phillips Square
is framed by Toronto City Hall
, while the popular heart is focused on the new Dundas Square
with its fountains and multiple large screen video panels, located on Yonge Street at the north end of the Eaton Centre.
Rosedale, Toronto
, a suburb established in 1909 continues to be home to some of Canada's richest and most famous citizens.
However Toronto faces problems common to large North American cities, ranging from pollution, to urban sprawl, to the deterioration of infrastructure, racial tension and inequality, increasing levels of violent crime, heavy traffic congestion, poverty and lack of public housing.
More importantly, recent economic developments have had a considerable negative impact on Toronto and the region. In 2007 the Canadian dollar reached par with the US dollar causing a decline in the export of the region's manufactured products because of their relative increase in price. Furthermore the increase in the cost of oil and gas created an additional cost burden for these same manufacturers resulting in a substantial loss of manufacturing jobs due to plant cutbacks and closures. The simultaneous decline of the North American auto industry with its many factories in the region, due to an increasing inability to compete with Asian auto manufacturers was accelerated by the increasing price of gasoline, which discouraged consumers from purchasing new cars.
This collision of multiple negative factors has hit the manufacturing and technological base of the region's prosperity very dramatically in recent years. The road to continued prosperity for Toronto lies in increased competitiveness through technological and managerial innovation.
Montreal, population 3,500,000 and Vancouver, population 2,000,000 have become poles of attraction based on manufacturing and transportation.
Montreal - Stagnation: The population of Montreal, a city with an attractive geographical location, has declined over the last thirty years, because of negative economic, social and political, and fiscal factors.
The weight of the Canadian economy has shifted south and west over the last three decades. This has been to the benefit of Toronto, which grew in part because of the Auto Pact signed in 1965 and Calgary, which has grown since the eighties because of oil. But the shift has been to the detriment of Montreal.
Demographically the birth rate in Canada has fallen below replacement rate during this period. Other cities in Canada have relied on immigration for growth but this option has not been available to Montreal for political reasons. Because of the prominence of Quebec separatism, immigrants who speak English or who want to speak English have avoided Montreal for a fear of persecution by the French-speaking majority and settled in other large Canadian cities. Furthermore the province of Quebec in spite of vigorous efforts has been unable to attract French-speaking immigrants in significant numbers from other parts of the world.
The separatist threat has resulted in a net loss of mostly English-speakers from Montreal during these years and has put a chill into foreign investment.
Since the seventies the government of Quebec has responded positively to a growing public demand for social programmes, which by the end of the century were some of the most generous in Canada. In order to finance these programmes, personal income tax in Quebec became the highest in Canada and remains so. This high level of tax has served to further discourage the net immigration to Montreal, from other provinces and from other countries.
In an attempt to counteract these negative factors the government of Quebec also instructed its provincial crown electric utility, Hydro-Québec, with headquarters in Montreal, to offer electricity to both domestic and industrial clients at below market rates. This did not overcome the negative weight of the factors mentioned above. It has on the contrary led to stunning levels of corporate debt, for which all Quebecers, including Montrealers, will be responsible through higher taxes and possibly at some point, higher hydro rates.
The population of the Island of Montreal has evolved as follows during this period: (1971), 1,959,000, 1981 ( five years after the election of a separatist government), 1,760,000, (1991), 1,775,000, (2001), 1,812,000.
In spite of these factors the economy of Montreal was transformed in the latter part of the century. The heavy manufacturing of the earlier years was replaced by the high value added output of the aviation and pharmaceutical sectors. Notable companies in the former include, Bombardier, Bell Textron, Pratt & Whitney and CAE. The latter sector included Merck Frost and Phizer. Montreal also remains home to a large number of corporate head offices including those of Power Corporation of Canada
, the Bank of Montreal
, BCE Inc., Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Hydro-Québec
, Ace Aviation Holdings (Air Canada
), Ultramar Ltd. and Metro Inc..
The downtown core did experience some significant construction including, the Tour du 1000 de la Gauchetière in 1991, Tour IBM-Marathon in 1992 and the Molson Centre, the new home of the Montreal Canadiens, in 1996.
The period began optimistically with the construction of the massive Mirabel Airport to the northwest of the city in 1975. However this soon turned to disappointment, embarrassment and financial catastrophe as the new huge facility failed to attract traffic and became a sleepy industrial airport at the end of the century. This failure is both a symbol and a practical reflection of Montreal's decline during these years. The 1976 Olympics produced mixed results. They did focus the attention of the world on the city and were a sporting success. However the stadium was not finished on time and city of Montreal and the province were left with massive debts that were only paid off early in the new millennium.
The French language cultural output of the city has flourished over the last thirty years, a fact which in some ways disguises a deeper malaise. Large volumes of French language television drama for the Radio Canada, TVA and TQS networks are produced weekly. There is a flourishing domestic and foreign film production industry. Special events including the Montreal International Jazz Festival (1980), the Canadian Grand Prix
and Just for Laughs
(1983), have gained international fame. The greatest export of Montreal on the international scene is surely the Cirque du Soleil
, with several permanent shows around the world.
Organized crime has changed over the decades. Run mainly by Canadian families of Italian origin, these groups were pushed aside in the eighties by biker gangs. The Outlaws originally gained control of the illegal drug trade and prostitution but in the nineties a brutal turf war saw them replaced by the Hells Angels.
The future of the city is not bright. Demographics portray a community with an aging French-language majority, that has no replacement. Infrastructure is also showing its age with the city's several bridges, many highway overpasses and other transportation structures including the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway needing renovation (the seaway is a federal infrastructure and has very little to do with Quebec ports which get the vast majority of their traffic from overseas). Financing the renovation of infrastructure through the increase of taxes is difficult in view of the long standing high tax rates in the province and the high level of government debt including the debt of public corporations (Hydro-Québec). Essentially the province has run down the state of public assets to finance the public demand for extravagant social services. An attempt to streamline public administration through the amalgamation of the island's multiple municipal governments early in the new century ended in confusion, with some cities becoming part of a new unified structure and some opting out. Finally, all this is coloured by the ongoing and unhelpful subtext of separation.
Vancouver: Since 1970 Vancouver has grown dramatically with the help of immigration from Asia. Throughout the period, immigrants from South Asia have arrived in large numbers and tended to settle in the south east suburbs, notably in places like Surrey. Their presence has created some controversy because of the fact that they tend to buy normal sized suburban homes on normal sized suburban lots, tear them down and build ¨monster houses¨ to replace the ones that were demolished. Immigration from Hong Kong increased substantially during the nineties as 1999, the date for the return of that city to Chinese jurisdiction, approached. These arrivals tended to settle downtown, to the point where that area is sometimes referred to as ¨Hong Couver¨.
The skyline of the city has reflected this growth with new structures including: the Royal Centre, 1972, Harbour Centre, 1976, the Scotia Tower, 1977, BC Place, 1983, home of the CFL BC Lions, Canada Place, 1986 and GM Place, 1995 home of the NHL Vancouver Canucks. The 62 floor mixed use Living Shangri-La, the tallest building in the city will open in 2009.
Tourism has increased noticeably with the city having become the starting point for major cruise ship lines operating trips north through the Inside Passage.
The world's fair of 1986, Expo´86, focused the attention of the world on Vancouver. The fair was sited at the east end of False Creek which, in the post World War Two years, had become an industrial slum. In the early eighties the land was reclaimed and used as the site for the construction of the facilities for the fair. At the same time a subway was built to facilitate the movement of pedestrians around the city.
After the fair ended the land on the north side of the creek was used for the construction of luxury apartment and condominium towers. More recently the land on the south side of the creek has been used for the construction of the athletes village for the 2010 Winter Olympics. However in late 2008 there was controversy over the fact that the developer had gone bankrupt and the government of British Columbia has been forced to cover the bad debts.
While most Canadian cities are characterized by the presence of freeways through part of the downtown core, Vancouver is the exception for the city has, to this point managed to keep roads of this type out of the city centre. However all is not well with the road system and there has been severe crowding on the Lion's Gate Bridge and on the Second Narrow Bridge for almost two decades.
A blight of a different type however characterizes the downtown area known as East Hastings. Arguably Canada's worst slum its flop houses are home to vagrants, drug addicts, pushers and prostitutes. Since 2007 there has been a gradual attempt to eliminate the problem through the process of ¨gentrification¨.
As of 2009, Vancouver has a population of 2,000,000.
Oil and national politics as well as high-tech have made Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa, all cities with populations of one 1,000,000, significant national urban centres.
Geography has destined Winnipeg, Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Halifax to roles as regional service centres.
St John's, Saint John, Regina and Saskatoon, again because of location, have not been able to develop economic or demographic weight and for the most part have become stagnant.
Whitehorse(1898), and Yellowknife(1935), are small cities, and will remain so because of very unfavourable geographic locations, which include huge distances from markets, barren hinterlands, with the exception of some mineral wealth and glacial climates.
Geographic determinism
Geographic determinism
Geographic determinism is the theory that the human habits and characteristics of a particular culture are shaped by geographic conditions. Coined by Ellsworth Huntington, the theory looked at the rise and fall of the Roman Empire from 400-500. Much of the fall of the empire had to do with a...
is the idea that favourable geographic features are an essential determinant of human behaviour. Favourable factors could influence the success of a city; examples include a benign climate, proximity to transportation corridors, usable groundwater, rain, a stable and flat or gently undulating terrain for construction, a benevolent hinterland, and proximity to markets. However, a geographically attractive location alone is not enough for a city to flourish. Favourable human factors, including economics, technology, social conditions, and politics are also necessary for the establishment and growth of cities.
Settlements and villages 14,000BC – 1600
Canada's first people did not build cities. Those who arrived 14,000 years ago were without knowledge of cities, having never seen a cityCity
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
or lived in one. They were few in number compared to the size of the new continent and most lived a nomadic subsistence lifestyle, following the migration of animal herds that provided food. However they were influenced by geographic factors in the selection of locations for the temporary settlements and villages that they established and inhabited on a cyclical seasonal basis. Many of these would later serve as sites for Canadian cities that would be founded thousands of years later.
Settlements, villages and towns 1600–1850
The arrival of the Europeans provided the basis for the founding of cities in Canada. Many of the new arrivals, both French and English, were from cities and brought with them the experience and knowledge of city life. They also brought with them the technology required for city building. This included techniques for the construction of permanent buildings, transportation and communication facilities and the means of producing food for concentrated groups of people.However cities were slow to grow in this new world. Those who arrived did so within a colonial and mercantile context that emphasized the exploitation of the colony for economic purposes at a minimum of Imperial expense. Cities being expensive to create and administer, their growth was slow during the colonial period. It was also a period of conflict between England and France, (rival colonial powers until 1763) and between Britain and the USA from that date until the mid-nineteenth century. This turmoil discouraged the development of cities.
The towns
The rise of St. John's (1605), Quebec (1608), Montreal (1642), Halifax (1749), Saint John (1785) and Sherbrooke (1793) were notable during these years. They were established on the east coast of Canada in locations that were easily accessible to ships sailing from Europe, with the exception of Sherbrooke, which was established inland, by United Empire Loyalists. Of these cities, Montreal would become the most prominent.Montreal - 1642:
The area now known as Montreal has been a place of human habitation by Canada's native peoples for the last 8000 years . The first European, Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big...
, reached the site in 1535, however it was only in 1639 that the first permanent white settlement was established by Frenchman Jerome Le Royer, leading to the establishment of Ville Marie, a Roman Catholic mission, in 1642.
After a series of brutal attacks by the Iroquois, defending their territory, the arrival of new colonists in 1653 ensured the future of the city. The settlement became a fur trading centre but endured continuous raids by warring Iroquois until the Great Peace of 1701 guaranteed its safety.
After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, all the French territory in North America, including Ville Marie, became part of British North America. The town was subjected to invasion and a brief occupation by American forces in 1775, but they were subsequently routed and Montreal retaken by the British, with Canadian and Indian help.
The arrival of British immigrants and the establishment of the North West Company
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 was to become Western Canada...
, fur trading rival to the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, with headquarters in Ville Marie, ushered in an era of growth and prosperity. The Eagle Foundry of Montreal built the Äccommodation¨, Canada's first steam powered vessel. The opening of the Lachine Canal in 1825 reinforced the location as a port. Coal gas street lighting was introduced in 1838.
The City of Montreal was established in 1832 with 27,000 inhabitants. During the period of its primarily European history, Montreal initially had a Francophone majority but Anglophone immigration tipped the balance by about 1830. From 1844 to 1849 Montreal served as the capital of the United Province of Canada.
Factors for growth
Canada's first cities appeared during these years. Fueled by the arrival of white, Christian immigrants from Europe, drawn by the hope for a better life in the new world, and a high domestic birth rate, they served as outposts of civilization in a land that was still mostly wild and inhospitable. In 1851 Canada's population stood at 2.4 million. By 1861 it had grown a third, to 3.2 million and by 1871 to 3.7 million.Economic forces were also at play. The repeal of the Corn Laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
in Britain in 1846 provided a symbolic end to the era of mercantilism
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
and ushered in the era of capitalism. Private investment, mostly from Britain, provided the foundation for a nascent industrial structure based on transportation (the steam train), construction, electricity, public works, heavy manufacturing, consumer and industrial services and related financial institutions.
The introduction of a number of technological innovations also supported city growth, including the telegraph, water and sewer systems, the telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
, urban transit, the electric light
Electric light
Electric lights are a convenient and economic form of artificial lighting which provide increased comfort, safety and efficiency. Most electric lighting is powered by centrally-generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems...
, the skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
, central heating
Central heating
A central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be a HVAC system.Central heating differs from local heating in that the heat generation...
and the techniques of light and heavy manufacturing. These new transportation and communications technologies also led to the creation of a new ïnter-urban network of cities which contributed to their growth based on mutual interaction.
The fading fear of attack by the USA provided a peaceful context for urban growth and the movement away from colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
towards democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
gave urban dwellers the power to influence the shape of their cities.
The construction of universities and cultural facilities in cities put a more human face on the harsh environment.
The British North America Act, an act of the British Parliament, which established an independent and democratic Canada in 1867, reflected the rural character of the country at that time. Of a population of 3,600,000 almost 2,900,000 were rural dwellers while 700,000 lived in cities. The political forces at play involved both federal and provincial powers. Therefore the BNA Act provided areas of exclusive jurisdiction for federal and provincial governments. Because cities were not predominant, the allocation of taxing powers for the financing of their growth, was left in the hands of the provinces. This would have important negative consequences a century later.
The Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, created to realize the dream of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
for a transcontinental nation, was almost solely responsible for the emergence of the cities of western Canada during these years.
In Quebec, the Roman Catholic Church worked to maintain the rural nature of Quebec society, in the belief that this would help preserve the Catholic nature of the population and reinforce the Church's strength. One notable example of this policy was seen in the church sponsored attempt to ¨colonize¨ the rural Abitibi region of the province by farmers in the early twentieth century. The project failed because the region was only marginally suited to agriculture. This policy served to militate against urban growth in that province.
Furthermore the nature of immigration limited the growth of cities in Quebec. Most immigrants to Canada during these years were English- speaking and preferred to settle in large cities, including Montreal with an existing English speaking population. On the other hand there were few French-speaking immigrants and the mostly French-speaking cities elsewhere in the province, including Quebec City and Trois-Rivières could not rely on this source for growth.
Emigration too had a negative effect on the growth of cities in Quebec. Around 1900, economic conditions in Quebec were very difficult and about 1,000,000 French-speaking Canadians left the province looking for work in the textile mills of New England.
By 1901, cities had grown to a point where the Union of Canadian Municipalities was formed to represent their interests.
Changing structures – high rise cores and suburbs
During these years the structures of cities evolved rapidly. In 1850 the city was essentially all ¨downtownDowntown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
¨. The main buildings, serving residential, commercial and industrial functions, were made of wood or stone, mostly four to five stories tall and self supporting. Streets were of dirt or occasionally cobblestone and strewn with garbage and human excrement. Animals wandered about and horses were everywhere, solo, with rider or pulling wagons or carriages. In larger cities public transit was provided by horse cars on rails. Gas lights provided illumination at night. The force of life was provided by muscle power, animal or human.
This changed rapidly. The introduction of the self-supporting steel framed building in the 1880s led to the construction of skyscrapers of six floors and more. The introduction of electricity and telephones was marked by the installation of hundreds of telephone and hydro poles along city streets, supporting electric and telephone cables. Electric street lighting replaced gas lights. The construction of water and sewer systems eliminated human waste from the urban living space. The introduction of municipal garbage collection reduced the presence of garbage.
In the latter part of the century, the rise of the new middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
created a demand for housing beyond the city core. This was met by private contractors building individual homes on single lots in newly created suburbs, adjacent to the downtown core. Public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
was provided by the extension of the new electric powered streetcar to the suburbs. The downtown core began to lose its residential vocation and became a space increasingly devoted to commerce, industry and to a lesser extent, public life.
In the new century the introduction of the car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
began to make its own dramatic mark. By 1920, the horse was gone, most cities had paved roads in the downtown core and main paved roads served the rising numbers of cars in the suburbs. At this point the Canadian city came to resemble what we see today.
Dominance of Montreal
The rise of Montreal as Canada's metropolis was the most important feature of urban development during these years. In 1851 the population stood at 57,000, but grew to 90,000 by 1861, becoming in the process Canada's largest city. It would hold this position for more than one hundred years before being surpassed by Toronto.Transportation made Montreal. Situated at the head of the S. Lawrence River, it became Canada's major port and rail centre. Ships from overseas arrived bringing goods and immigrants. First the Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers
Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers
The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Captain Alexander Allan of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, running dry goods from Greenock to sell in Montreal and returning with Canadian produce to sell back in Scotland, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line...
in 1854 followed by Canadian Pacific Steamship Lines in 1903 operated trans Atlantic passenger liners to Britain. Shippers from the Great Lakes system, notably Canada Steamship Lines Inc.
Canada Steamship Lines Inc.
Canada Steamship Lines is a Canadian shipping company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec.-Beginnings:CSL had humble beginnings in Canada East in 1845, operating river boats on the St. Lawrence River in general commerce. Subsequent growth over the years was tied to expansion of the canal system...
brought grain for export.
The great Western Railway from Montreal to Windsor went into operation in 1854 carrying passengers and goods into the hinterland, followed by the Grand Trunk Railway from Montreal to Sarnia in 1860. The Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR) one of the great railway companies of the world, established its headquarters there. The huge CPR Angus Shops
CPR Angus Shops
The CPR Angus Shops in Montreal were a railcar manufacturing, repairing and selling facility of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The most of its production consisted of passenger cars, freight cars and locomotives. Built in 1904, and named for founder, Richard B...
(1904) and Montreal Locomotive Works
Montreal Locomotive Works
Montreal Locomotive Works was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883–1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company...
(1901) formed the heart of Canada's heavy industrial capability, building steam engines and rolling stock for the railways. Canadian Car and Foundry
Canadian Car and Foundry
Canadian Car and Foundry also variously known as "Canadian Car & Foundry," or more familiarly as "Can Car," manufactured buses, railroad rolling stock and later aircraft for the Canadian market...
manufactured street cars.
Other major manufacturing industries, grew along the Lachine Canal
Lachine Canal
The Lachine Canal is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, Lasalle and Sud-Ouest.The canal gets its name from the French word for China...
(1825), including Redpath Sugar
Redpath Sugar
Redpath Sugar was an important company in the economic history of Canada.-History:Redpath Sugar was established as the Canada Sugar Refining Company in 1854 in Montreal, Quebec by Scots-Quebecer entrepreneur, John Redpath . Located on the bank of the Lachine Canal, the giant complex was the first...
, Darling and Brady, soap manufacturers, the St. Lawrence Glass Company, the Canadian Rubber Company, Laing Packing and Provisions (1852) and Belding Paul & Co. silk manufacturers provided consumer and industrial goods. The Imperial Tobacco Company (1912) became Canada's largest manufacturer of cigarettes. Morgans, Canada's first department store, opened its doors in 1845. The Montreal Telegraph Company, began offering service in 1847 and Canadian Marconi Company (CMC Electronics) was formed in Montreal in 1903.
Financing for this activity was provided by the banks of St. James Street (Saint Jacques Street
Saint Jacques Street
Saint Jacques Street is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.The street has had two official names: St. James Street in English after St. James's, London; and its current appellation, rue Saint-Jacques, in French. Both names are sometimes used in English, though Saint-Jacques is the most...
) which became the heart of Canada's financial sector anchored by the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
(1817) and the Montreal Stock Exchange, founded in 1872.
Canada's first skyscraper, the eight-storey New York Life Insurance Company Building, was built in 1889. The elegant Queen's Hotel opened for business in 1893. In 1875 in Montreal, a McGill student, J. Creighton, established the basic rules for hockey as we know it today. The world's first facility dedicated to hockey, the Westmount Arena, was built in Montreal in 1898.
Engineering works included a steam-powered municipal water system in operation by 1857 and the massive Victoria Bridge (Montreal)
Victoria Bridge (Montreal)
Victoria Bridge , formerly originally known as Victoria Jubilee Bridge, is a bridge over the St. Lawrence River, linking Montreal, Quebec, to the south shore city of Saint-Lambert....
built in 1859. The Montreal City Passenger Railway Company began offering horse-car service in 1861 and converted to electric powered streetcars in 1891. In 1884 the Royal Electric Company began providing electricity to the city.
During the First World War, Montreal became a major producer of munitions. Among other things, cordite was manufactured at Beloeil, Quebec, by Canadian Explosives Limited and at Nobel, Quebec, by British Cordite Limited.
Montreal's place as the largest French-speaking city in North America, as well as the home of a substantial Roman Catholic population, was reinforced by the establishment of Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)
Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)
Notre-Dame Basilica is a basilica in the historic district of Old Montreal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The church is located at 110 Notre-Dame Street West, at the corner of Saint Sulpice Street...
, the initial construction of which was completed in 1830. French language newspapers including La Presse (Canadian newspaper) in 1884 and Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
in 1910 and the Monument National theatre stood as pillars of cultural life. McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, founded in 1821, and the Montreal Star
Montreal Star
The Montreal Star was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It folded in 1979 following an eight-month pressmen's strike....
(1869) and Montreal Gazette (1785, originally a French language publication) newspapers stood as testaments to the vitality of the English-speaking community.
The Golden Square Mile
Golden Square Mile
The Golden Square Mile was the name of a luxurious neighbourhood at the foot of Mount Royal in the west-central section of downtown Montreal, Canada...
, a residential area on the south slope of Mount Royal, became the home of Canada's wealthiest citizens, including William Dow
William Dow
William Dow emigrated to Canada from Scotland in about 1818. A trained brewer, he took employment with James Dunn's brewery in Montreal and quickly became a partner. His younger brother, Andrew, who had also trained as a brewer, joined him, and on the death of Dunn, the company became known as...
, John Redpath
John Redpath
John Redpath was a Scots-Quebecer businessman and philanthropist who helped pioneer the industrial movement that made Montreal, Quebec the largest and most prosperous city in Canada....
, William Notman
William Notman
William Notman was a Canadian photographer and businessman.Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1826, the same year in which photography was born in France. William Notman moved to Montreal in 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on...
, James McGill
James McGill
James McGill was a Scottish-Canadian businessman, military commander and philanthropist known for being the founder of McGill University...
, John Molson
John Molson
John Molson was an English-speaking Quebecer who was a major brewer and entrepreneur in Canada, starting the Molson Brewing Company.-Birth and early life:...
, Sir George Simpson (administrator)
George Simpson (administrator)
Sir George Simpson was a Scots-Quebecer and employee of the Hudson's Bay Company . His title was Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land and administrator over the Northwest Territories and Columbia Department in British North America from 1821 to 1860.-Early years:George Simpson was born in Dingwall,...
and Sir Hugh Allan.
By 1921 the city had 618,000 inhabitants.
Hopeful beginnings east
Toronto, with a population of 30,000 in 1851, and Bytown (renamed Ottawa in 1855) with a population of 8,000, would become respectively the future economic and political capitals of Canada.Toronto (1834)
As was the case with many Canadian cities, the place now known as Toronto was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, by a number of tribes including the Cayugas, Mohawks, Neutral-Erie, Oneidas, Senecas and Wendat.
Between 1750 and 1759 the French operated a trading post, Fort Rouille, in the area where the Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition , also known as The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day Monday. With an attendance of approximately 1.3 million visitors each season, it is Canada’s largest...
is now located. The British purchased 250000 acres (1,011.7 km²) of land from the native peoples in 1787 and Governor John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...
chose the site for the capital (which he named York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
) of the newly created Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
. Concerned with military transportation to protect the new colony from US attack, he built roads west to what is now Windsor, east towards Montreal, and north, the present day Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
.
York was attacked and burned to the ground by the American Army in 1813 and the British, in retaliation, attacked and burned the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
in Washington to the ground in 1814. Another US attack that same year was defeated. The town was renamed Toronto in 1834 and William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish born American and Canadian journalist, politician, and rebellion leader. He served as the first mayor of Toronto, Upper Canada and was an important leader during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion.-Background and early years in Scotland, 1795–1820:Mackenzie was...
served as the first mayor.
The growth of Toronto in the latter part of the century was rapid, with the population passing from 30,000 in 1851 to 56,000 in 1871, to 86,400 by 1881 and to 181,000 by 1891. In part this was due to Irish immigration resulting from the Great Irish Famine between 1845 and 1849. The presence of the Roman Catholic Irish among Protestants led to racial tension, culminating in the Julibee Riots of 1875.
Toronto's rise to prominence was initiated by the arrival of the train and telegraph. The railways connected Toronto to a wide hinterland. The Great Western Railway, from Montreal to Toronto to Windsor, was completed in 1854 and the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
, from Montreal to Toronto to Sarnia, in 1869. Along with the railways came the telegraph. Toronto was the first Canadian city to get service when it was introduced by the Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Co. in 1846.
Industrial mass production, in this case of clothing, became part of Toronto's fabric. 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. It used the newly introduced sewing machine as part of a continuous operation. William E. Davies established Canada's first large-scale hog slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
in Toronto in 1874.
Toronto became the home of the first plastics produced in Canada. The Rathburn Company of Toronto began to produce wood 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, from the oxidation of wood alcohol, in 1909. This latter product was an essential element in the production of the fully synthetic, phenol-formaldehyde plastic (Bakelite).
Heavy manufacturing took hold in nearby cities. General Electric Canada, founded by Thomas Edison in nearby Peterborough in 1892, contributed to heavy manufacturing techniques through the fabrication of large electric generators and electric motors, 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. Steel mills were established there as well.
Public services improved city life. A steam-powered municipal water pumping
Water pumping
The pumping of water is a basic and practical technique, far more practical than scooping it up with one's hands or lifting it in a hand-held bucket. This is true whether the water is drawn from a fresh source, moved to a needed location, purified, or used for irrigation, washing, or sewage...
station was in service in Toronto by 1841, the same year that coal gas street lighting was introduced. Horsecar service began in Toronto in 1861. It was operated by the Toronto Street Railways until 1892, when it was replaced by electric streetcar service. The Toronto Power House and the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario began offering electricity to that city and the province in 1906.
The growth of the city could be seen in the construction of skyscrapers. The first self-supporting steel-framed skyscraper in Canada was the Robert Simpson Department Store at the corner of Yonge and Queen with six floors and electric elevators, built in 1895. This was followed by the Traders Bank of Canada, (15 floors, Yonge Street, 1905), the Canadian Pacific Building, (16 floors, 1913), the Royal Bank, (20 floors, 1915), the Royal York Hotel, 1929, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, in 1931. Canada's first escalator was installed in 1904 at Eaton's Department Store on Queen Street.
The beginnings of the rise of Toronto as the cultural capital of Canada were seen in the establishment in 1827 of what would become the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and the founding of The Globe (later the Globe and Mail)in 1844. Book publishing also took root. Publishers of note included Musson Book Company, 1894, G.N. Morang, 1897, McLeod & Allen, 1901, the University of Toronto Press, 1901, Oxford University Press, 1904, John C. Winston, 1904, Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd., 1905, McClelland and Goodchild, 1906, (later McClelland and Stewart), Cassell and Company Limited, 1907, J.M. Dent and Sons, 1913 and Thomas Nelson and Sons Limited, 1913. Performing arts space was expanded with the completion of the Grand Opera House, in 1874, Massey Hall
Massey Hall
Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....
in 1894 and the Royal Alexandra Theatre
Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Royal Alexandra Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada located near King and Simcoe Streets. Built in 1907, the Royal Alex is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.-History:...
in 1907. The Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition , also known as The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day Monday. With an attendance of approximately 1.3 million visitors each season, it is Canada’s largest...
, established in 1878 became a prominent feature of city and Canadian life.
With continued growth the city began to expand at the periphery and newly created adjacent towns were annexed. They included West Toronto, East Toronto, Parkdale and Brockton Village.
New Southern Ontario cities - the essence of Canada
St. Catharines(1821), London(1826), Hamilton(1846), Oshawa(1850), Kitchener(1854) and Windsor(1854) founded in the mid-nineteenth century would eventually form the core of the most densely populated and heavily industrialized region of Canada.Hopeful beginnings west
For the most part, creations of the CPR, Winnipeg(1873), Calgary(1876), Regina(1882), Saskatoon(1883), Vancouver(1886) and Edmonton(1904) were strung like beads on a chain across Canada, linked by the new transcontinental railway. Victoria(1849) had earlier colonial origins. Vancouver would quickly become the most important.Vancouver(1886)
Evidence indicates that native peoples, notably the Coast Salish, inhabited the area that became Vancouver for about 10,000 years before the arrival of the white man. The first Europeans to explore the area included Spanish Captain José María Narváez in 1791 and British Captain George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
in 1792. During his exploration Vancouver met with another Spanish expedition in the command of Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores. Simon Fraser
Simon Fraser (explorer)
Simon Fraser was a fur trader and an explorer who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia. Fraser was employed by the Montreal-based North West Company. By 1805, he had been put in charge of all the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains...
was the first white man to reach the area overland, which he did in 1808. However, native resistance to the presence of settlement was strong and it was not until 1862 that the first white settlement, the McCleery Farm, was established in what is now known as the Southlands district of Vancouver.
A year later, Moodyville was established on the north shore of Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
as home to lumbering activity and a sawmill. Stamps Mill (1867) was established on the south shore of the Inlet in what is now downtown Vancouver. The quality of Vancouver lumber quickly gained a worldwide reputation and was used to provide masts for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and in the construction of the Gate of Heavenly Peace in the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
, Beijing.
A saloon built a mile to the west of Stamps Mill soon became an area of settlement eventually known as Gastown
Gastown
Gastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront , Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper...
. It was named in honour of the talkative saloon owner ¨Gassy¨ John Deighton. The area was surveyed by the British colonial administrators and formally renamed Granville in 1871. The construction of the first federal penitentiary in New Westminster in 1878, bore witness to the lawlessness of the region.
The CPR made Vancouver. William Van Horne, President of the CPR, chose the area as the western terminus for the transcontinental railway and renamed it Vancouver in 1886. Along with the railway came transcontinental telegraph service, also operated by Canadian Pacific. Stanley Park
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
was established by the new city council and a disastrous fire destroyed the city that same year. A new city quickly arose from the ashes complete with a modern water system, the cities' first sewer system in 1886, electricity in 1887 and streetcar services.
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.In 1902, Canadian Pacific completed a trans-Pacific cable telegraph, linking Vancouver with Australia and New Zealand. This reinforced Vancouver's position as a Pacific transportation and communication gateway.
The population of the city mushroomed passing from about 5,000 in 1886 to 42,000 in 1900 and it became, in the process, Canada's third largest City. The appearance of the skyscraper provided visual evidence of growth, the first being the Dominion Building, (13 floors), in 1910, followed by the World (Sun) Tower, (17 floors), in 1912.
Vancouver society was especially turbulent during these years. The First War saw two general strikes and the city was hit by depression in the 1890s, 1919, 1923 and 1929. Racism was also present. The presence of a large number of Chinese in Vancouver, located there as a result of immigration to work on the CPR, lead to serious anti-Chinese rioting organized in part by the Asiatic Exclusion League
Asiatic Exclusion League
The Asiatic Exclusion League, often abbreviated AEL, was a racist organization formed in the early twentieth century in the United States and Canada that aimed to prevent immigration of people of East Asian origin.-United States:...
in 1907. In 1914, 376 prospective Punjabi immigrants arriving aboard the ship Komataga Maru were refused entry into Canada on a technicality, the enforcement of which was racially inspired. They were forced to return to India.
After the first war working class neighbourhoods including Mount Pleasant, South Vancouver and Grandview-Woodland began to appear. The CPR established Point Grey for development as an exclusive neighbourhood in 1908. Shaughnessy Heights was also established for the well heeled.
The founding of the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in 1915 represented a significant development in the cultural field.
Holding their own
During this period, the centre of Canada quickly shifted west and south leaving St. John's, Halifax, Saint John, Quebec and Sherbrooke far from the centre but still close enough, through marine and rail connections, for them to retain residual economic and demographic weight.Introduction
Until 1921 Canada was a largely rural nation. However by that date the balance had shifted. Of Canada's population of 8,787,000 people, roughly 4,300,000, or 50 percent lived in cities. This was the result of internal urban population growth, the steady influx of the rural population into the cities and the arrival of immigrants, most of whom settled in cities. This shift was permanent and the urban percentage of the population continued to increase for the remainder of the twentieth century. Over 85 percent of Canada's citizens were urban dwellers in 2008.The production of wealth also became concentrated in cities during this period. Rural production (fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
), was outstripped by urban manufacturing and the service sectors. In 2008, about 90 percent of Canada's economy was urban based.
A harmonious balance
During this period there was a balance in the factors that contributed to city growth. The increase in population was supported by a number of elements including private investment for commerce and industry, which provided jobs and money for consumer spending and public investment in education and infrastructureInfrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
including, roads, public transit, electric, water and sewer systems. Canada's mostly white, Christian population also provided a homogeneity of values that created a calm and harmonious context for growth.
City growth was somewhat stunted during the depression years of the thirties but experienced industrial growth during the hot house years of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the boom associated with pent-up consumer demand in the post war years. This boom was accompanied and fueled be immigration, mostly from Europe.
The establishment of the Dominion Conference of Mayors in 1935 was symptomatic of growth of Canadian cities during these years. In 1937, this organization fused with the Union of Canadian Municipalities to become the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities. This organization was renamed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is a civic advocacy group representing many Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence debate and policy, as it is main national lobby group of mayors, councillors and other elected municipal...
in 1976.
Metropolis : Montreal at its peak
Montreal had a population of 618,000 in 1921, which grew to 1.2 million in 1971.
The twenties saw many changes in the city and the introduction of new technologies continued to have a prominent impact. The introduction of the car in large numbers began to transform the nature of the city. The world's first commercial radio station, XWA began broadcasting in 1920. A huge mooring mast for dirigibles was constructed in St. Hubert in anticipation of trans-Atlantic lighter-that-air passenger service, but only one craft, the R-100, visited in 1930 and the service never developed. However Montreal became the eastern hub of the Trans-Canada Airway in 1939.
Film production became a part of the city activity. Associated Screen News of Canada in Montreal produced two notable newsreel series, "Kinograms" in the twenties and "Canadian Cameo" from 1932 to 1953. The making of documentary films grew tremendously during World War II with the creation of the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
, in Montreal, in 1939. By 1945 it was one of the major film production studios in the world with a staff of nearly 800 and over 500 films to its credit including the very popular, "The World in Action" and "Canada Carries On", series of monthly propaganda films. Other developments in the cultural field included the founding of Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
in 1919 and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...
in 1934. The Montreal Forum
Montreal Forum
The Montreal Forum was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News, it was home of the National Hockey League's Montreal Maroons from 1924 to 1938 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 to 1996...
, built in 1924 became the home ice rink of the fabled Montreal Canadiens hockey team.
Dr. Wilder Penfield
Wilder Penfield
Wilder Graves Penfield, OM, CC, CMG, FRS was an American born Canadian neurosurgeon. During his life he was called "the greatest living Canadian"...
, with a grant from the US Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
founded the Montreal Neurological Institute
Montreal Neurological Institute
The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital is an academic medical centre dedicated to neuroscience research, training and clinical care. The Institute is part of McGill University and the Hospital is one of the five teaching hospitals of the McGill University Health Centre, in Montreal,...
at the Royal Victoria Hospital (Montreal), in 1934 to study and treat epilepsy and other neurological diseases. Research into the design of nuclear weapons was conducted at the Montreal Laboratory of the National Research Council of Canada
National Research Council of Canada
The National Research Council is an agency of the Government of Canada which conducts scientific research and development.- History :...
during WWII.
In the post-war years Canada formalized its wartime shortwave radio broadcasting activities with the creation of Radio Canada International
Radio Canada International
Radio Canada International is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Until 1970, it was known as the CBC International Service and was sometimes referred to as the "Voice of Canada" in its early years.- The early years :The idea for creating an...
. In 1945, this international radio broadcasting service was established with production facilities in Montreal and a huge shortwave transmitter site at Sackville, New Brunswick. Television was introduced to Canada by CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
, first in the French language by CBFT in Montreal on 6 September 1952. Radio-Canada established extensive production facilities for French-language programming, especially in the field of television drama. In the early seventies TVA
TVA (TV network)
TVA is a privately owned French language television network in Canada. The network is currently owned by Groupe TVA Inc. , a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media...
also established a dynamic presence in this field.
The Norgate Shopping Centre, Saint-Laurent, Quebec (1949) and the Dorval Shopping Centre, Dorval, Quebec (1950), were the first shopping centres built in Canada. In 1951 the first St. Hubert BBQ restaurant opened its doors on St-Hubert street in Montreal.
The completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway, in 1959, the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
, in 1962, Autoroutes 20 and 40 in Quebec and Highway 401, in Ontario, in 1968 strengthened Montreal's connection with other Canadian cities and with the continent. The construction of the Montreal Subway, in 1966 and Underground Montreal in the mid-sixties eased pedestrian movement in the downtown core and the suburbs. The World Fair, Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
brought Montreal to the attention of the world as never before. La Ronde (amusement park)
La Ronde (amusement park)
La Ronde is an amusement park in Montreal, owned and operated by Six Flags. It is the largest in the province of Quebec and the second largest in Canada after Canada's Wonderland, with about 2.5 million guests in 2006...
became Canada’s largest amusement park when it opened in 1967 as part of Expo ’67.
Canada's first heart transplant was performed on 31 May 1968, by Dr. Pierre Godin the Chief Surgeon at the Montreal Heart Institute
Montreal Heart Institute
The Montreal Heart Institute , in Montreal, Quebec, is a specialty hospital dedicated to the development of cardiology. Founded in 1954 by Paul David, it is currently affiliated with the Université de Montréal....
, on patient Albert Murphy of Chomedy, Quebec a 59 year old retired butcher suffering from degenerative heart disease. The operation took place about six months after the world's first, by Dr. Christian Barnard.
A number of important skyscrapers were built in the sixties including, Place Ville Marie (Royal Bank), 1962, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Tower, 1962, the Edifice Trust Royal (C.I.L. House), 1962 and the Hôtel Château Champlain, in 1967.
Cultural institutions such at La Presse and Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
newspapers and the beautiful Place des Arts
Place des Arts
right|frame|View of the Place des Arts esplanade. The Musée d'art contemporain is on the left; behind it is the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, with the Théâtre Maisonneuve on the rightPlace des Arts is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
(1963) performing arts theatre, symbolized the vigour of the French language in the city as did the development of a very vibrant popular music and theatre scene in the sixties and seventies with noted performers including Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois, OC, OQ is a Quebec author, composer, musician, performer and actor. He is an important figure in French language song....
, Louise Forestier
Louise Forestier
Louise Forestier is a singer, songwriter and actor.-Biography:Forestier was trained in acting at the National Theatre School in Montreal, but it was as a singer that she first became known in 1966, when she received the Renée Claude Trophy from Le Patriote, a boîte à chansons in east-end...
, Diane Dufresne
Diane Dufresne
Diane Dufresne, CQ is a singer and painter, and has sung a number of classics of Quebec repertoire of popular songs....
, Claude Dubois
Claude Dubois
Claude André Dubois is a Canadian singer-songwriter.Dubois was an early star of the francophone musical Starmania...
, Rene Claude and Denise Pelletier
Denise Pelletier
Denise Pelletier, OC was a Canadian actress.- Early life :Denise Pelletier was born on May 22, 1923 was born in Saint-Jovite, Quebec to father Albert Pelletier, a literary critic, and mother Marie-Reine Vaugeois. Her mother was very cultured and helped Denise's love of theatre flourish...
to name but a handful among dozens. Further intellectual growth was symbolized by the founding of the Université du Québec
Université du Québec
The University of Quebec is a system of ten provincially-run public universities in Quebec, Canada. Its headquarters are in Quebec City. The university coordinates university programs for more than 87,000 students. It offers more than 300 programs...
in 1968.
The Montreal Forum
Montreal Forum
The Montreal Forum was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News, it was home of the National Hockey League's Montreal Maroons from 1924 to 1938 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 to 1996...
was home to the iconic Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
hockey team which won five Stanley Cup victories in a row from 1955 to 1960 becoming in the process the most successful professional sports team in history up to that time. The star player of the team Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
gained a reputation that lives to this day.
However all was not well with the city. The rise of the automobile put an end to streetcar manufacturing in the city. The conversion of the railways from steam to diesel in the fifties resulted in the closure of Montreal's huge locomotive manufacturing facilities. Political turmoil caused by the mailbox bombings of the separatist FLQ in the sixties put a chill into the public and world's perception of the city. The construction of the Boulevard Metropolitaine in the sixties, although it improved traffic low, divided the city along an east west axis. The massive trench of the new north south six-lane Boulevard Decaire divided the city east from west.
However the most dramatic event of all, the election of the separatist Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
to power in Quebec City in 1976, resulted in the subsequent exodus of hundreds of thousands of English-speaking Montrealers fearing persecution, to cities elsewhere in Canada.
Toronto and Southern Ontario cities - waiting in the wings
These cities experienced strong growth during this period that would see them gain national prominence in the latter part of the century.
Toronto: Toronto gained considerable industrial, cultural and demographic strength during the fifty year period from 1920 to 1970.
The industrial strength of Toronto area was reinforced with the establishment in 1918 of an auto production plant by General Motors in nearby Oshawa, where it produced Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Oaklands and by Studebaker Canada Ltd. which produced cars in Hamilton from 1946 to 1966. Steel for the production of these cars came from the nearby mills of Stelco and Dofasco in Hamilton and gasoline, from refineries in Sarnia. The familiar, Canadian Tire, began operations there in 1922 and has become one of Canada's largest retailers. The Trans-Canada Airway was extended to Toronto in 1939.
The founding of what would become the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
in 1922 and the establishment of the CBC radio English-language radio network headquarters with its associated production facilities in the city in 1936 were signal cultural events.
Notable landmarks of the period featured the Royal York Hotel
Fairmont Royal York
The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
, built in 1929 and Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
home to the fabled Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, completed in 1931. Important public works included the massive R.C. Harris Filtration Plant, in 1926 and the Queen Elizabeth Way
Queen Elizabeth Way
The Queen Elizabeth Way, commonly abbreviated as the QEW, is a 400-Series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The freeway links Buffalo, New York and the Niagara Peninsula with Toronto. It begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western shore of Lake Ontario, ending...
, completed in 1939.
During the Second World War Toronto became an important centre for the production of weapons including the warplanes manufactured by de Havilland Canada
De Havilland Canada
The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. company was an aircraft manufacturer with facilities based in what is now the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
and Avro Canada
Avro Canada
Commonly known as Avro Canada, this company started in 1945 as an aircraft plant and became within thirteen years the third-largest company in Canada, one of the largest 100 companies in the world, and directly employing over 50,000...
. Military vehicles were produced by General Motors in Oshawa. The Connaught Laboratories (Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi S.A. is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, the world's fourth-largest by prescription sales. Sanofi engages in the research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products for sale principally in the prescription market, but the...
) at the University of Toronto produced penicillin for wartime use.
Industrial capacity gained further strength with the establishment in the fifties, by the Ford Motor Company of Canada of a production plant in Oakville, which would eventually become a suburb of Toronto. The signing of the Auto Pact with the US in 1965 created massive investment in auto production facilities in Toronto and southern Ontario.
The University of Toronto Computer Centre, established in 1947, developed Canada’s first operational computer the University of Toronto Electronic Computer (UTEC
UTEC
UTEC was a computer built at the University of Toronto in the early 1950s. It was one of the first working computers in the world, although only built in a prototype form while awaiting funding for expansion into a full-scale version. This funding was eventually used to purchase a surplus...
) in 1951. This was followed by the purchase of FERUT (Ferranti University of Toronto) computer, by the Computer Centre in 1952.
The CBC owned and operated CBLT-TV, Canada's first English-language television station, with related production facilities, went on the air there on 8 September 1952. The first private television broadcaster, CFTO, began operation in 1961.
Toronto was home to the construction of a number of advanced aircraft in the post-war years including the Avro Canada Jetliner, the Avro CF-100
Avro CF-100
The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck was a Canadian jet interceptor/fighter serving during the Cold War both in NATO bases in Europe and as part of NORAD. The CF-100 was the only Canadian-designed fighter to enter mass production, serving primarily with the RCAF/CAF and in small numbers in Belgium...
jet interceptor and the fabled Avro Arrow. However the expense of the latter endeavour in the absence of a significant market forced the AVRO into bankruptcy in 1959.
Electric energy projects in the sixties and seventies included the Lakeview Generating Station, completed in Mississauga, in 1962 and the Nanticoke Generating Station
Nanticoke Generating Station
The Nanticoke Generating Station is the largest coal-fired power plant in North America, delivering up to 2,760 MW of power into the southern Ontario power grid from its base in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada. Previous to unit shutdowns, its generating capacity was 3,964 MW. It is owned by...
(largest coal fired plant in North America), in Nanticoke, Ontario, in 1978. In 1971 electricity produced from nuclear power became commercially available to Torontonians and other Ontarians from the large (ultimately 8-unit) Pickering station near Toronto, Ontario.
The field of transportation saw the completion of a number of significant works both local and national. Local works included the Toronto Subway, in 1954 and the GO Transit
GO Transit
GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...
rail system in 1967. The PATH system built in the sixties, allowed pedestrians to move about the downtown core using underground passages. National projects with Toronto as a hub or important destination included the Trans-Canada Gas Pipeline, 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1959, the Trans-Canada Highway, completed in 1962, and Highway 401 completed in 1968.
The Sunnybrook Plaza (1951) and York Mills, (1952), became the first shopping centres in the region. Skyscrapers of note included the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower in 1967, The Simpson Tower, 1968, the Royal Trust Tower, 1969.
By 1971 Toronto had a population of 2,630,000.
The rising east and west
Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver would experience sustained growth but not enough to make them the metropolis.
Vancouver: In 1921 Vancouver had a population of 232,000.
The opening of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
in 1914 solidified Vancouver's place as Canada's largest western city and the third largest in the country, a place that it holds to this day. The canal made it possible for ships to carry cargo from Vancouver directly to ports in Europe. Freight rates that favoured the use of eastern Canadian ports over Vancouver were eliminated in the twenties and port growth boomed. The Vancouver Harbour Commission was established in 1913 and the shipping activity centred around the Ballentyne Pier, built in 1923, which at the time was the most modern in the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
The rise of the automobile lead to the construction of new bridges over False Creek
False Creek
False Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city. It was named by George Henry Richards during his Hydrographic survey of 1856-63. Science World is located at its eastern end and the Burrard Street Bridge crosses its western end. False Creek is...
including: the Granville Street Bridge
Granville Street Bridge
The Granville Street Bridge is an eight lane bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia. It spans False Creek and is 27.4 metres above Granville Island. It is part of Highway 99.-History:...
, (1889 rebuilt 1954), the Burrard Street Bridge
Burrard Street Bridge
The Burrard Bridge is a five-lane, Art Deco style, steel truss bridge constructed in 1930-1932 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The high, five part bridge on four piers spans False Creek, connecting downtown Vancouver with Kitsilano via connections to Burrard Street on both ends...
, 1932, and the Cambie Street Bridge
Cambie Street Bridge
The Cambie Bridge is a six-lane symmetric, precast, varying-depth-post tension-box girder bridge spanning False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia. The current bridge opened in 1985, but is the third bridge at the same location...
, (1912 rebuilt 1984). Auto traffic to North Vancouver was facilitated with the construction of the first Second Narrow's Bridge in 1925 and by the completion of the Lion's Gate Bridge, in 1938, across the First Narrows.
Crime was a prominent feature of city life. Vancouver mayor L. D. Taylor
L. D. Taylor
Louis Denison Taylor was elected the 14th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, he was elected seven times between 1910 and 1934, serving a total of 11 years....
practiced an ¨open town¨ policy that sought to manage activities such as prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, bootlegging
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
and gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, by restricting them to racially oriented areas including Chinatown, Japantown, and Hogan's Alley. He was defeated in 1934 by Mayor McGeer who promised to clean up the city.
In 1931 the population of Vancouver stood at 347,000. In the twenties and thirties Vancouver became the western anchor of a number of national communication and transportation networks. These included the CNR National Radio Network, 1927, Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission Radio Network, 1932, the Trans-Canada Telephone System, 1932, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
Radio Network, 1936 and the Trans Canada Airway in 1938.
Cultural life received a boost with the establishment of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over 240,000 people attend its live performances each year. It was founded in 1930 and plays in 12 venues. Its home is the Orpheum theatre. With an annual operating budget of $9.5 million, it is the...
in 1919 and the opening of the Orpheum (Vancouver) theatre in 1927.
By 1941 the population had grown to 394,000. During World War II, the air base at Boundary Bay became an important centre for the training of heavy bomber crews. The city also featured prominently in the construction of ships for the war effort. Fear of an invasion by Japanese naval forces lead to Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry being sent to concentration camps in the BC interior 1942. Many of these citizens were from Vancouver.
In 1951 the population stood at 562,000 and further technologies became available. The Park Royal Shopping Centre, in West Vancouver, became the first in the city in 1950 and Empire Stadium, was built to host the 1954 British Empire Games. Vancouver became the western anchor of the new CBC national television network in 1958 and the western hub of the newly completed Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
in 1962. The giant Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal
Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal
The Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal is a major transportation facility in Delta, British Columbia. It is located on a three kilometre man-made causeway off the mainland at Tsawwassen and is less than 500 metres from the 49th parallel, Canada's border with the United States...
, was built in 1959 for passenger and vehicle ferry service to southern Vancouver Island and the nearby Roberts Bank Superport
Roberts Bank Superport
Roberts Bank Superport is a twin-terminal port facility located on the mainland coastline of the Strait of Georgia in Delta, British Columbia. Opened in 1970 with Westshore Terminals as its only tenant, Roberts Bank was expanded in 1983–84, and in June 1997 opened a second terminal, the Deltaport...
coal terminal was finished in the late sixties. A second, Second Narrow's Bridge was built in 1960 and the W.A.C.Bennett Dam, was completed in 1967.
The establishment of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
The Queen Elizabeth Theatre is a performing arts venue in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Along with the Orpheum and the Vancouver Playhouse, it is one of three facilities operated by the Vancouver Civic Theatres Department .Formerly the home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, which...
in 1959 and of Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
in 1965, enriched city cultural life. Canada’s first purpose-built auto racing track, the Westwood Motorsport Park was built in nearby Coquitlam, that same year. The first McDonald's restaurant outside the United States was opened in Richmond in 1967.
By 1971 Vancouver had a population of 1,000,000.
Dashed hopes
St. John's, Halifax, Saint John, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon, because of their locations, were not able to develop the weight to become anything more than minor cities.
Trouble in the city
Canada's population stood at 21 million in 1971 and has grown to 33 million in 2008. City expansion has continued throughout this period.However, Canadian cities have experienced a number of serious problems due largely to the fact that the increase in population has not been supported as it was earlier in the century. While private inventment has largely continued apace during these years, public expenditures have not been able to match the increasing demand for public services, including, education, health, welfare, public transport and roads and other infrastructure. This is because the constitution, created 100 years before, was developed for a rural country and did not provide adequate taxing mechanisms for the municipal generation of revenue. Constitutionally, cities were creatures of the province. Entrenched resistance to change, especially at the provincial level, that would see more taxing power transferred to the cities, has prevented effective action to remedy this problem.
Furthermore the social harmony and cohesion of values that characterized the golden age have also been eroded by the changing values of the indigenous increasingly secular, individualistic and materialistic population as well as the arrival of immigrants whose diverse views often conflict with those of their adopted country. Pollution, from industry and car exhaust has become a serious problem.
In Quebec the rise of Separatism in the sixties and in particular the election of the Parti Québécois as government in 1976, have had a negative effect on the size of the Anglophone population of the province with attendant results on the growth of cities, especially Montreal.
Importantly, the Auto Pact of 1965 and investments by the Big Three US car makers, General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, Ford and Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
have served to stimulate the growth of the cities of southern Ontario in much the same way that the CPR fuelled the growth of the cities of western Canada 60 years before.
Changing structures – urban sprawl and downtown decay
This era has been marked by urban sprawlUrban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
. Population growth has been limited mostly to the suburbs and city boundaries have stretched far into what had been countryside mere decades earlier. With the extension of suburbia the provision of public services has become increasingly expensive as water systems, sewer systems and other structures have radiated from the city core.
Of particular note is the construction of superhighways throughout the sixties and seventies. These massive corridors while designed to move increasing volumes of auto traffic also served to physically divide cities. In Toronto Highway 401 divides the city north/south, the Don Valley Parkway
Don Valley Parkway
The Don Valley Parkway is a controlled-access six-lane municipal expressway in Toronto connecting the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Ontario Highway 401, the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway. North of Highway 401, it continues as Ontario Highway 404. The parkway runs through...
(1966), east/west and the Gardiner Expressway
Gardiner Expressway
The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, colloquially referred to as "the Gardiner", is a municipal expressway in the Canadian province of Ontario, connecting downtown Toronto with its western suburbs...
(1966) separates the city core from Lake Ontario. In Montreal, the Autoroute Metropolitaine divides the city north/south and Boulevard Decarie, east/west. The Queensway (Ottawa)
Queensway (Ottawa)
The Queensway is a major controlled-access freeway running through Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from Kanata in the west to Orleans in the east. It is the primary east-west transportation artery in the Ottawa-Gatineau area....
in Ottawa divides the city north/south. The presence of cars has become so dominant that a casual observer seeing a city for the first time would assume that the primary inhabitant was the auto.
The displacement of the weight of the residential population from the city centre has begun to remove to market for downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
services and the downtown cores have begun to deteriorate. The construction of huge ¨ shopping centres¨ in suburbia has accelerated this process. In 2008 the Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimated that it would take $123 billion to restore and repair aging urban infrastructure across Canada.
Although there is deterioration in infrastructure it is important to note that the kind of slums that characterize many cities in the third world and the cores of many US cities, do not exist in Canada.
The New Metropolis : Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe
During the seventies the population of Toronto surpassed that of Montreal. In 1971 the populations of the respective Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) for Toronto and Montreal stood at 2.7 million and 2.6 million. By 1981 Toronto had surpassed Montreal with a population of 3 million versus 2.8 million for Montreal. In 2009 there are 5.5 million people in the Toronto area.
Factors for the growth of Toronto over Montreal included strong immigration, increasingly by people of Asian and Negroid backgrounds, the increasing size of the auto industry in Southern Ontario, due to the signing of the Auto Pact with the US in 1965, a calmer political environment (Quebec experienced two referenda on separation during these years, one in 1980 and the other in 1995), lower personal income taxes than in Quebec and a more benign linguistic/educational environment.
Improved transportation facilities aided growth. Union Station (Toronto)
Union Station (Toronto)
Union Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Toronto, located on Front Street West and occupying the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in the central business district. The station building is owned by the City of Toronto, while the...
provided a hub for passenger rail service in the busy Windsor Quebec corridor and a focus for the subway service. Highway 401 provided an artery for automobile traffic east and west. Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...
became Canada's largest and a massive new terminal building was recently completed.
During this period, three of Canada's largest banks became headquartered in Toronto: the Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...
, the Toronto-Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion Bank
The Toronto-Dominion Bank , is the second-largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and based on assets. It is also the sixth largest bank in North America. Commonly known as TD and operating as TD Bank Group, the bank was created in 1955 through the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the...
and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is one of Canada's chartered banks, fifth largest by deposits. The bank is headquartered at Commerce Court in Toronto, Ontario. CIBC's Institution Number is 010, and its SWIFT code is CIBCCATT....
. These along with the Manulife Financial Corporation, Sun Life Financial Inc. and Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Canada, the third largest in North America and the seventh largest in the world by market capitalisation. Based in Canada's largest city, Toronto, it is owned by and operated as a subsidiary of the TMX Group for the trading of senior equities...
form the financial district, the financial heart of Canada. Toronto also became the corporate capital of Canada with the majority of Canadian companies having their head offices there. Notable examples include: George Weston Ltd., Onex Corp, Magna International Inc., Wal-Mart Canada Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
Toronto strengthened its position as the cultural centre of English-speaking Canada during these years. The Globe and Mail and the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
, two of Canada's most important newspapers have their head offices there. The new CBC Canadian Broadcasting Centre
Canadian Broadcasting Centre
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, located in Toronto, Ontario, is the broadcast headquarters and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English-language television and radio services...
was completed in 1993 and became the corporation's control facility for English language broadcasting in Canada. Also in 1993 Ryerson Polytechnical Institute gained full university status and became, Ryerson Polytechnic University. Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...
became the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
in 1982. This along with the newly constructed Princess of Wales Theatre
Princess of Wales Theatre
The Princess of Wales Theatre is a 2000-seat theatre located at 300 King Street West in the heart of Toronto's Entertainment District in the downtown area...
and the venerable Royal Alexandra Theatre
Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Royal Alexandra Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada located near King and Simcoe Streets. Built in 1907, the Royal Alex is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.-History:...
now form the heart of the theatre district. Cultural institutions including the Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario
Under the direction of its CEO Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO embarked on a $254 million redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in 2004, called Transformation AGO. The new addition would require demolition of the 1992 Post-Modernist wing by Barton Myers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg...
and the Royal Ontario Museum
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
have recently had their buildings renovated. The Four Seasons Centre
Four Seasons Centre
The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is a 2,071-seat theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which had its grand opening Wednesday, June 14, 2006. The first actual performance however, commenced in September 2006 with the first Canadian production of Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen...
became the new home of the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
and National Ballet of Canada
National Ballet of Canada
The National Ballet of Canada is Canada's largest ballet troupe. It was founded by Celia Franca in 1951 and is based in Toronto, Ontario. Based upon the unity of Canadian trained dancers in the tradition and style of England's Royal Ballet, The National is regarded as one of the premier classical...
when completed in 2006. The Toronto Film Festival, established in 1976, has become after Cannes, the most important in the world and now sports a new headquarters, the Bell Lightbox
Bell Lightbox
The TIFF Bell Lightbox & Festival Tower is a cultural centre and skyscraper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed by The Daniels Corporation and designed by Toronto-based architectural firm Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects...
, opened in 2010. Film production has received a boost with the newly completed, Pinewood Toronto Studios, in the east end on the waterfront. Toronto has also been home to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
(1943), since 1961.
The changing high-rise downtown core provided visual evidence of growth. New skyscrapers included, the Royal Trust Tower, 1969, First Canadian Place, 1975, the CN Tower, 1975, Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, 1977, the First Bank Tower, 1979, Scotia Plaza, 1988, the Sky Dome, 1989, the BCE Place–Canada Trust Tower, 1990 and the Bay Wellington Tower, 1990.
Recently constructed skyscrapers include: One King Street West, 2005, West 1, 2005, Harbourview Estates 2, 2005, Residences of College Park 1, Toronto, 2006, Quantum 2 (Minto Midtown), 2008, the Bay Adelaide Centre West, 2009, the RBC Centre, 2009, Success, 2009 and Montage, 2009. Canada's largest theme park, Canada's Wonderland opened in 1981.
Public administration was streamlined when the governments of Toronto and its five adjacent municipalities Etobicoke, North York, East York, York, and Scarborough were fused to form a ¨megacity¨ in 1998. The political heart of the City, Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza that forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. The square opened in 1965, and, as with the City Hall, the square was...
is framed by Toronto City Hall
Toronto City Hall
The City Hall of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is the home of the city's municipal government and one of its most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong, and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965...
, while the popular heart is focused on the new Dundas Square
Dundas Square
Yonge-Dundas Square is a commercial junction and public square, situated at the southeast corner of the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street East in Downtown Toronto...
with its fountains and multiple large screen video panels, located on Yonge Street at the north end of the Eaton Centre.
Rosedale, Toronto
Rosedale, Toronto
Rosedale is an affluent neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was formerly the estate of William Botsford Jarvis, and so named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance....
, a suburb established in 1909 continues to be home to some of Canada's richest and most famous citizens.
However Toronto faces problems common to large North American cities, ranging from pollution, to urban sprawl, to the deterioration of infrastructure, racial tension and inequality, increasing levels of violent crime, heavy traffic congestion, poverty and lack of public housing.
More importantly, recent economic developments have had a considerable negative impact on Toronto and the region. In 2007 the Canadian dollar reached par with the US dollar causing a decline in the export of the region's manufactured products because of their relative increase in price. Furthermore the increase in the cost of oil and gas created an additional cost burden for these same manufacturers resulting in a substantial loss of manufacturing jobs due to plant cutbacks and closures. The simultaneous decline of the North American auto industry with its many factories in the region, due to an increasing inability to compete with Asian auto manufacturers was accelerated by the increasing price of gasoline, which discouraged consumers from purchasing new cars.
This collision of multiple negative factors has hit the manufacturing and technological base of the region's prosperity very dramatically in recent years. The road to continued prosperity for Toronto lies in increased competitiveness through technological and managerial innovation.
Heavyweights
Montreal, population 3,500,000 and Vancouver, population 2,000,000 have become poles of attraction based on manufacturing and transportation.
Montreal - Stagnation: The population of Montreal, a city with an attractive geographical location, has declined over the last thirty years, because of negative economic, social and political, and fiscal factors.
The weight of the Canadian economy has shifted south and west over the last three decades. This has been to the benefit of Toronto, which grew in part because of the Auto Pact signed in 1965 and Calgary, which has grown since the eighties because of oil. But the shift has been to the detriment of Montreal.
Demographically the birth rate in Canada has fallen below replacement rate during this period. Other cities in Canada have relied on immigration for growth but this option has not been available to Montreal for political reasons. Because of the prominence of Quebec separatism, immigrants who speak English or who want to speak English have avoided Montreal for a fear of persecution by the French-speaking majority and settled in other large Canadian cities. Furthermore the province of Quebec in spite of vigorous efforts has been unable to attract French-speaking immigrants in significant numbers from other parts of the world.
The separatist threat has resulted in a net loss of mostly English-speakers from Montreal during these years and has put a chill into foreign investment.
Since the seventies the government of Quebec has responded positively to a growing public demand for social programmes, which by the end of the century were some of the most generous in Canada. In order to finance these programmes, personal income tax in Quebec became the highest in Canada and remains so. This high level of tax has served to further discourage the net immigration to Montreal, from other provinces and from other countries.
In an attempt to counteract these negative factors the government of Quebec also instructed its provincial crown electric utility, Hydro-Québec, with headquarters in Montreal, to offer electricity to both domestic and industrial clients at below market rates. This did not overcome the negative weight of the factors mentioned above. It has on the contrary led to stunning levels of corporate debt, for which all Quebecers, including Montrealers, will be responsible through higher taxes and possibly at some point, higher hydro rates.
The population of the Island of Montreal has evolved as follows during this period: (1971), 1,959,000, 1981 ( five years after the election of a separatist government), 1,760,000, (1991), 1,775,000, (2001), 1,812,000.
In spite of these factors the economy of Montreal was transformed in the latter part of the century. The heavy manufacturing of the earlier years was replaced by the high value added output of the aviation and pharmaceutical sectors. Notable companies in the former include, Bombardier, Bell Textron, Pratt & Whitney and CAE. The latter sector included Merck Frost and Phizer. Montreal also remains home to a large number of corporate head offices including those of Power Corporation of Canada
Power Corporation of Canada
Power Corporation of Canada is a Canadian company with assets in North America and Europe in a number of industries. These industries include media, pulp and paper, and financial services....
, the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
, BCE Inc., Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
, Ace Aviation Holdings (Air Canada
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
), Ultramar Ltd. and Metro Inc..
The downtown core did experience some significant construction including, the Tour du 1000 de la Gauchetière in 1991, Tour IBM-Marathon in 1992 and the Molson Centre, the new home of the Montreal Canadiens, in 1996.
The period began optimistically with the construction of the massive Mirabel Airport to the northwest of the city in 1975. However this soon turned to disappointment, embarrassment and financial catastrophe as the new huge facility failed to attract traffic and became a sleepy industrial airport at the end of the century. This failure is both a symbol and a practical reflection of Montreal's decline during these years. The 1976 Olympics produced mixed results. They did focus the attention of the world on the city and were a sporting success. However the stadium was not finished on time and city of Montreal and the province were left with massive debts that were only paid off early in the new millennium.
The French language cultural output of the city has flourished over the last thirty years, a fact which in some ways disguises a deeper malaise. Large volumes of French language television drama for the Radio Canada, TVA and TQS networks are produced weekly. There is a flourishing domestic and foreign film production industry. Special events including the Montreal International Jazz Festival (1980), the Canadian Grand Prix
Canadian Grand Prix
The Canadian Grand Prix , abbreviated as gpc, is an annual auto race held in Canada starting in 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967...
and Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...
(1983), have gained international fame. The greatest export of Montreal on the international scene is surely the Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
, with several permanent shows around the world.
Organized crime has changed over the decades. Run mainly by Canadian families of Italian origin, these groups were pushed aside in the eighties by biker gangs. The Outlaws originally gained control of the illegal drug trade and prostitution but in the nineties a brutal turf war saw them replaced by the Hells Angels.
The future of the city is not bright. Demographics portray a community with an aging French-language majority, that has no replacement. Infrastructure is also showing its age with the city's several bridges, many highway overpasses and other transportation structures including the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway needing renovation (the seaway is a federal infrastructure and has very little to do with Quebec ports which get the vast majority of their traffic from overseas). Financing the renovation of infrastructure through the increase of taxes is difficult in view of the long standing high tax rates in the province and the high level of government debt including the debt of public corporations (Hydro-Québec). Essentially the province has run down the state of public assets to finance the public demand for extravagant social services. An attempt to streamline public administration through the amalgamation of the island's multiple municipal governments early in the new century ended in confusion, with some cities becoming part of a new unified structure and some opting out. Finally, all this is coloured by the ongoing and unhelpful subtext of separation.
Vancouver: Since 1970 Vancouver has grown dramatically with the help of immigration from Asia. Throughout the period, immigrants from South Asia have arrived in large numbers and tended to settle in the south east suburbs, notably in places like Surrey. Their presence has created some controversy because of the fact that they tend to buy normal sized suburban homes on normal sized suburban lots, tear them down and build ¨monster houses¨ to replace the ones that were demolished. Immigration from Hong Kong increased substantially during the nineties as 1999, the date for the return of that city to Chinese jurisdiction, approached. These arrivals tended to settle downtown, to the point where that area is sometimes referred to as ¨Hong Couver¨.
The skyline of the city has reflected this growth with new structures including: the Royal Centre, 1972, Harbour Centre, 1976, the Scotia Tower, 1977, BC Place, 1983, home of the CFL BC Lions, Canada Place, 1986 and GM Place, 1995 home of the NHL Vancouver Canucks. The 62 floor mixed use Living Shangri-La, the tallest building in the city will open in 2009.
Tourism has increased noticeably with the city having become the starting point for major cruise ship lines operating trips north through the Inside Passage.
The world's fair of 1986, Expo´86, focused the attention of the world on Vancouver. The fair was sited at the east end of False Creek which, in the post World War Two years, had become an industrial slum. In the early eighties the land was reclaimed and used as the site for the construction of the facilities for the fair. At the same time a subway was built to facilitate the movement of pedestrians around the city.
After the fair ended the land on the north side of the creek was used for the construction of luxury apartment and condominium towers. More recently the land on the south side of the creek has been used for the construction of the athletes village for the 2010 Winter Olympics. However in late 2008 there was controversy over the fact that the developer had gone bankrupt and the government of British Columbia has been forced to cover the bad debts.
While most Canadian cities are characterized by the presence of freeways through part of the downtown core, Vancouver is the exception for the city has, to this point managed to keep roads of this type out of the city centre. However all is not well with the road system and there has been severe crowding on the Lion's Gate Bridge and on the Second Narrow Bridge for almost two decades.
A blight of a different type however characterizes the downtown area known as East Hastings. Arguably Canada's worst slum its flop houses are home to vagrants, drug addicts, pushers and prostitutes. Since 2007 there has been a gradual attempt to eliminate the problem through the process of ¨gentrification¨.
As of 2009, Vancouver has a population of 2,000,000.
Contenders
Oil and national politics as well as high-tech have made Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa, all cities with populations of one 1,000,000, significant national urban centres.
Regional powers
Geography has destined Winnipeg, Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Halifax to roles as regional service centres.
Dying on the vine
St John's, Saint John, Regina and Saskatoon, again because of location, have not been able to develop economic or demographic weight and for the most part have become stagnant.
Northern cities
Whitehorse(1898), and Yellowknife(1935), are small cities, and will remain so because of very unfavourable geographic locations, which include huge distances from markets, barren hinterlands, with the exception of some mineral wealth and glacial climates.
See also
- Origins of names of cities in CanadaOrigins of names of cities in CanadaOrigins of the names of cities in Canada lists the names and origins of names of cities across Canada:-See also:*Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies*List of Canadian place names of Ukrainian origin...
- History of CanadaHistory of CanadaThe history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Canada has been inhabited for millennia by distinctive groups of Aboriginal peoples, among whom evolved trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and social hierarchies...
- History of TorontoHistory of TorontoThe Toronto area was home to a number of First Nations groups who lived on the shore of Lake Ontario. At various times, the Neutral, Seneca, Mohawk and Cayuga nations were living in the vicinity of Toronto. The first permanent European presence was the French trading fort Fort Rouillé, which was...
- History of MontrealHistory of MontrealThe human history of Montreal, located in Quebec, Canada, spans some 8,000 years. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, a discrete and distinct group of Iroquoian-speaking indigenous people. They spoke Laurentian...
- History of OttawaHistory of OttawaThe History of Ottawa, capital of Canada, was shaped by events such as the construction of the Rideau Canal, the lumber industry, the choice of Ottawa as the location of Canada's capital, as well as American and European influences and interactions...
- History of VancouverHistory of VancouverVancouver is a city in British Columbia, Canada. With its location near the mouth of the Fraser River and on the waterways of the Strait of Georgia, Howe Sound, Burrard Inlet, and their tributaries, Vancouver has, for thousands of years, been a place of meeting, trade and settlement.The presence...
- History of Quebec CityHistory of Quebec CityQuebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North America.-French rule:Quebec City was founded on July 3, 1608, by Samuel de Champlain. Champlain named his settlement after a local native word meaning “the river narrows here.” Champlain's settlement was located at the foot of Cap...
- History of WinnipegHistory of Winnipeg-Before incorporation:Winnipeg lies at the confluence of the Assiniboine River and the Red River, known as The Forks, a historic focal point on canoe river routes travelled by Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years. The name Winnipeg is a transcription of a western Cree word meaning "muddy...