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1500
1500:first occupants
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. -
1600:adding of 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. -
1672: monopoly granted to the 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. -
1663:merchantilism
Mercantilist 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. -
1700:triangle 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. -
1732:Founding of Forges du Saint-Maurice and establishment of the 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 -
1760:Merchants Control of the fur trade by the British
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. -
1806:Napoleon the first continental blockade against Great Britain
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. -
1810:Timber trade 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. -
1821: Merge of the northwest company and the Hudson Bay company
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. -
1830: Beginning of the agricultural crisis; failing wheat production
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. -
1836: The first railroad route was inaugurated.
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. -
1854: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. -
1878: National policy to stimulate industrialization
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. -
1929: New York 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. -
1962: Nationalization of electricity
The 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. -
1973:First Major oil crisis
Major 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. -
1994: NAFTA
On January 1st, 1989 the Canada-united states free trade agreement (CUSFTA) came into effect, eliminating almost all customs duties between Canada and the united states. The treaty was renegotiated to include Mexico, which agreed to participate in the North American Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect on January 1st, 1994.
