-
1497
Europeen Fisheries
European fisherman, participated in cod fishing close to Labrador and Newfoundland after the discovery of Newfoundland by John Cabot. -
1500
Aboriginals
The different nomadic and sedentary Aboriginal communities used the barter system, which means they traded goods. They relied on each other to supply resources they could not find in their own territory or goods they could not produce themselves. -
Tadoussac
Due to the increase of fur trade between the Europeans and Aboriginal people, French merchant Pierre de Chauvin established a permanent trading post at Tadoussac. The fur trade drove the colonial economy. Pelts, especially beaver pelts, were exported to France, where they served in the manufacture of goods such as felt hats. -
Company of 100 Associates
The companies that had a monopoly in the trading industry were financed by shareholders that shared the profits and the losses in the proportion to their initial investment. Only the could determine the price of the quantity of pelts that could be sent to France. -
Compagnie des Habitants
A group of merchants created this company who took over the trade monopoly of the company of 100 associates. This company was inexperienced and was eventually attacked by the Iroquois. This caused a lot of difficulty. -
Royal Government (Mercantilism)
Mercantile policies also hindered the economic development of the colony and is an economic theory that bases a nation's prosperity on the accumulation of gold and silver. France wanted to sell its manufactured goods without competition from its own colonies and export the greatest quantity of goods from the colonies to become wealthy. -
Triangular Trade
The Triangular trade is to allow France to get rich by taking advantage of the resources of its colonies and by selling manufactured goods to its colonies. The big principles of the Triangular trade were that boats cannot leave a port empty-handed and must be full of products or resource. Boats leaving France for New France or the West Indies must transport manufactured goods. -
Forges du Saint-Maurice and royal shipyard
The King of France granted François Poulin of Francheville permission to build forges and furnaces to exploit the iron resources in Trois rivières. Also the foundation of a naval shipyard near Quebec City. These ships would be used to export the colonies surplus to other French colonies -
Fur trade owned by British Merchants
After the Conquest, Scottish, English and American merchants settled in Montreal to practice the fur trade. Since they had a great financial means than the French Canadians, they replace them in the fur trade. -
First continental Blockade
Great Britain could no longer import timber from the northern Europe because of Napoleon's Continental Blockade. British merchants invested in Lower Canada logging industry to encourage the timber trade. -
Timber Trade slowly replaces Fur Trade
The timber trade replaces the fur trade and became the engine of the Canadian economy. This will cause the development of new regions and create new jobs (lumberjacks, sawyer, log driver) and increase the influence of the British merchants class. -
British Protectionism
Protectionism (Preferential treatment) - 1760 up to 1840s
Under a protectionist policy, the colony will trade exclusively with the mother country. This favored the purchasing of resources within a colony. -
Bank of Montreal
The creation of the bank of Montreal encouraged the British merchants to make invests and increase their credit. -
Hudson Bay and Northwest Companies Merge
Both companies competed against each other, spending large amounts of money to build trading posts while the demand for fur declined. There were battles between the two companies. The fur trade was already in decline during this time. Fur was less and less in demand in Europe. -
Agricultural Crisis
Great Britain could no longer produce enough food to meet its own needs so it started to buy its wheat from Canada. However, agriculture will experience many difficulties such as Great Britain will slowly stop buying wheat from Lower Canada, poor soil, outdated farming techniques, and poor weather will cause an economic crisis in Lower Canada. Therefore Great Britain will have to buy its wheat from Upper Canada as of 1830. -
First Rail Road
The first railroad was inaugurated in 1836 connecting the South Shore of Montreal to St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu. The new transportation methods helped the economy making it easier, faster and safer to transport goods from one place to another. The railway network stimulated the development of the metallurgy industry with was mainly based on the construction of the railway materials. The railway network also had repercussions for colonial and urban expansion. -
Treaty of Reciprocity
According to this treaty, raw materials or primary manufacturing products could be traded between the two partners without having to pay customs duties. -
National Policy
This policy put in place by Conservative Prime Minister John A. Macdonald imposes custom tariffs on imported manufactured goods, which means for Canadian consumers, local goods will cost less. Therefore, more people will buy “made in Canada” because it cost less. This will stimulate the Canadian economy. The main objectives were to increase in protectionist tariff, the expansion of the railway network and stimulate immigration. -
Second Phase of Industrialization
This second phase was characterized by the exploitation of resources and the rapid expansion of industrial sectors which developed due to the new energy source hydroelectricity -
Stock Market Crash
After a while, surplus accumulated in warehouses. In an effort to help the situation, companies started to produce less and proceeded to fire workers. This sequence of events caused the New York Stock Market to crash. This started the Great Depression. -
World War II
During World War II countries needed people manufacturing the resources like weapons for the soldiers to use. With the need for weapons, this created jobs and even over time started the
economy. -
Quiet Revolution
Started in Quebec after the defeat of the Union Nationale. Agriculture became the most important and the main economic practice. Hydroelectricity was nationalized during this time period -
Nationalization of electricity
he government of Quebec bought out most of the private electricity companies and integrated them into Hydro-Québec in order to nationalize the production and distribution of electricity. -
Oil Crisis
ajor economic fluctuations hit the province. The organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) decided to curb oil production and raise prices, causing an economic slowdown in the western world. This situation caused an economic recession. -
NAFTA
(North American Free Trade Agreement) was a treaty signed by Canada, the US, and Mexico. It allowed free trade between these countries without taxes or tariffs.
