How much has Canada changed?

Analyse the two following maps and find the differences between Canada today and Canada in 1867.

A map of the provinces of Canada from July 1, 1867 to July 15, 1870. Ontario and Quebec are provinces during this time, however; their land mass is much smaller than what it is today. Rupert’s Land, owned by the United Kingdom, occupies the eastern areas of modern Ontario and Quebec, as well as the vast majority of the land of the modern prairie provinces. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are also provinces of Canada at this time. British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Labrador (Dependent of Newfoundland at this time) and the North-Western Territories were owned by the United Kingdom and take up the remainder of the land. The North-western Territories include land in present day Alberta and Saskatchewan. A small island named Saint Pierre and Miquelon is also present just south of Newfoundland and owned by France.

Provinces of Canada from April 1, 2003 to Present. The east of Canada, or Eastern Canada include (from left to right) Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is still owned by France, south of Newfoundland and Labrador. Western Canada includes the prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. It also includes British Columbia on the west coast. Northern Canada includes the territories of Yukon, Northwest territories, and Nunavut.

The expansion of Canada

At the time of Confederation in 1867, the Dominion of Canaada consisted of four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Before 1905

British Columbia was brought into Confederation in 1871 and Prince Edward Island in 1873.

The Yukon Territory was formed in 1898 and the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed in 1905.

Using this description and the following map or a digital map of Canada, outline the provinces that existed in 1905 with their correct borders. You may use a government of Canada website to help you.

Complete the Mapping Canada In 1905 Activity in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. You can also use another method of your choice.

After 1905

Newfoundland and Labrador would join Confederation after the Second World War in 1949. Nunavut was created in 1999 and separated itself from the Northwest Territories. Nunavut means “our land” in the Inuit language of Inuktitut and is the largest Indigenous land claim settlement in Canadian history.

Timeline activity

Use the following timeline to help you correctly organize when each province and territory joined Canada.

Reasons for settling the West

From 1867 to 1914, Western Canada was opened for mass farming and settlement and became home to millions of European immigrants seeking a new life. The rapid settlement of the West was vital against the growing expansion of the Americans who were expanding their land westward and southward. The Canadian government feared that there was a risk that the Americans would try to claim the land towards the North. The settlement of the land formerly held by the Hudson’s Bay Company would be one of the first concerns of the newly-formed Dominion of Canada.

In the years following Confederation, the Prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta grew rapidly as settlers began to farm the flat landscape. Many motivations brought European settlers to Canada: greater economic opportunity, an escape from oppression or prosecution, as well as opportunities and adventure. Sir Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior, promoted immigration from groups like the Ukrainians, Hungarians, and Mennonites as political and economic situations in Europe grew increasingly challenging during this period (Gagnon, n.d.). As a result, the population of the West exploded. For example, the city of Winnipeg grew from a city of 20,000 in 1886 to 150,000 in 1911.

Summarize your ideas

Using the previous information, summarize the reasons why Canada wanted to settle the West.

Record your ideas in the following fillable and printable document Canada Settling the West Organizer. You can also complete this activity in your notebook or use a method of your choice to summarize your conclusions.

The Homestead Act

The Canadian Homestead Act, or Dominion Lands Act, passed in 1872 and was in use until 1918. The purpose of the Act was to encourage European, American, and Eastern Canadian settlers to come and settle the Prairie provinces in Canada.

Farmers also had an opportunity to buy the neighbouring 160 acres for the same $10 and this allowed many farmers to double the size of their farms. Although this Act did not immediately create a mass migration into the Prairie provinces, it would help in settling the West and expanding Canada’s presence into the Prairie provinces. Overall, about 125 million hectares of land were given away by the government under The Canadian Homestead Act. That is about the size of 200 Prince Edward Islands.

Checking your understanding

Complete the following true/false activity.

Select either true or false for each of the following statements about The Homestead Act.

Press ‘Answers’ to access feedback for the true and false questions.

Answers

Reflect

Record your responses to these questions in a method of your choice.

• What were the intended and unintended consequences of this Act?
• Whose voice or opinion is missing in the settlement of Western Canada and The Homestead Act? Why do you think this is?

Métis land scrips

The land scrip policy was used in some areas of Canada (for example, in parts of Western Canada) to extinguish Métis title and ownership to their traditional territories. To the Canadian government, the scrip process would help remove Métis families from their homelands to make room and provide better lands to European settlers.

A scrip was a certificate that could be either exchanged for land (land scrip) or for money to buy land (money scrip). A scrip was used to transfer land to Métis peoples in Canada from 1885 until the 1920s during the same period as Canada’s race to settle the West. Land scrips allotted either 160 or 240 acres to a Métis individual.

The land scrip process was extremely problematic for a number of reasons. Authorities could allocate new lands for a Métis person anywhere within the province. If a Métis person lived in southern Manitoba, there was no guarantee that the lands provided to them would even be relatively close by. Similarly, a scrip also had to be claimed at a Land Titles office. These offices could be hundreds of kilometres apart from each other. As a result, some Métis families never received their allotted land due to the sheer distance to travel to the offices or to the land itself. Some Métis families watched as Europeans settled on their lands before they were even given a scrip. Anger and frustration caused some to leave before even receiving their scrip and to travel further west to Alberta and Saskatchewan from Manitoba.

Land scrips illustrated the lack of recognition of Métis identities and rights in Canada. In other areas, the Métis people went largely unaddressed by the governments of the time. Métis people faced unjust policies. In Ontario, for example, numerous requests and petitions by Métis communities for treaty were ignored by the federal government, which is an issue that remains unresolved to this day.

Fill in the blank

For each sentence, select the missing word from the drop-down menu. Each sentence will focus on land scripts.

Selling Canada’s west: propaganda analysis

Propaganda posters popped up across Western Europe and the United States to encourage immigration and persuade new European settlers, especially on the Prairie provinces.

Examine the following propaganda posters:

Checking your understanding

Analyse these posters by answering the following questions. You may use a method of your choice.

• What was the purpose of each poster?
• What were the intended and unintended consequences of these posters?
• What do these posters suggest about what the Canadian government hoped Canadian society would look like?
• Whose voice or image is missing in these posters? Why do you think this is?

Create your own poster

Create your own poster that exposes the true history of settling the West and the truth behind the propaganda.

This might be an illustration of the true hardships that Europeans faced when they moved to Canada or how Indigenous peoples were removed from their homelands to make room for more European settlement.

Consider including images and text if possible. You can create your poster using a medium of your choice.

Soure: Waite, P.B.. “Confederation.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 29 October 2019, Historica Canada. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/confederation. Accessed 02 August 2021.

Source: Gagnon, Erica. “Settling the West: Immigration to the Prairies from 1867 to 1914.” Pier 21, https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/settling-the-west-immigration-to-the-prairies-from-1867-to-1914.

Source: Finke, Gene. “The Canadian Homestead Act.” Homestead Congress, 1 Jan. 1970, https://homesteadcongress.blogspot.com/2010/12/canadian-homestead-act.html

Source: “Métis.” Indigenous Foundations. http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/community-politics/metis

Reflection questions

How might you use your new knowledge to educate a friend or a family member about what you learned in this activity? What are three things you could teach them that they might not know about this era in Canadian history?

Reflection

As you read the following descriptions, select the one that best describes your current understanding of the learning in this activity. Press the corresponding button once you have made your choice.

Now, expand on your ideas by recording your thoughts using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.

When you review your notes on this learning activity later, reflect on whether you would select a different description based on your further review of the material in this learning activity.

Press ‘Discover More’ to extend your skills.

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