Economy and Development of British Rule

The decline in the the fur economy

• Scottish, English and American merchants settled in Montreal to practice the fur trade.
• Montreal merchants increased their fur supply. 
• 1783 - creation of the United States .
• The Great Lakes was lost to the new country.
• The Hudson Bay company was very costly 
• The Fur Trade would be based in the Hudson Bay and no longer in Montreal 
• Hudson Bay Company acquired supplies from Rubert's Land 
• Montreal merchants joined forces to form the Northwest Company

Expansion of the timber economy 

• 18th century- Great Britain obtained its wood supply from northern Europe.
• High transportation costs related to the crossing the Atlantic.
• A large increase in the number of commercial ships using the ports of the St. Lawrence.
• Lower Canada mainly produced lumber for ships.
• The amount of jobs created since mostly seasonal, were often handled by farmers.
• New trades across from the wood industry: lumber jacks cut the trees, loggers and raft men drove the  logs down river.
• The colonization of new regions such as the Outaouais, Seguenay, Lac St. Jean and the Mauricie. 

The Transformation of agriculture 

• Great Britain could no longer produce enough food to meet its own needs.
• Upper Canada produced more wheat 
• Lower Canada started cultivating other corps such as oats 
• Saguenay Lac St. Jean and the Mauricie started to develop agriculture also development in the regions that had been recently 

The beginning of industrialization

• 19th century was a transition period in the industrialization of Canada.
• The cities of Trois-rivieres, Montreal and Quebec were development.
• The birth of industrially capitalism also occured in the 19th century.
• French Canadians had any capital and competed fiercely against small entrepreneurs 
• Montreal grew in importance with capital and industries tending

Economic policies 

• Great Britain opted  for the adoption of a protectionist policy towards Canada.
• The protectionist policy was disliked in Great Britain by the supporters of Liberalism 
• Great Britain ceased its protectionist policies.
• 19th century - The liberals took control of the government.
• Canada Had to search for new markets for the distribution of its products 

Transportation infrastructure 

• Great Lake regions - upper Canada 
• Lower Canada - Farming 
• 1825 - construction of the Erie Canal in the United States 
• Canadian government began to financially support private initiatives to build transportation infrastructure.

Canals

• The Lachine Canal in Montreal (1821-1825)
• The Rideau Canal between Ottawa and Kingston (1826-1832)
• The Ottawa River to lake Ontario 
• The chambly Canal on the Richelieu River at St.Jean from 1833-1843.

The railroad 

• Railroad construction met the same needs as canal construction.
• 1851 - the buiding of the Great Trunk Railroad connected Sarnia, Ontario, to Montreal and Riviere-du-loup. 
• 1848- a railroad connecting Montreal to Portland in maine allowed Montreal to access the sea all year long.