Canadian industry presents many similar features if allowance is made for the slower industrial development of the Dominion, and most of what we have said in the preceding pages applies equally to Canada. This similarity is to be expected in countries which are in close proximity, and in both of which industrial development is comparatively recent. We should like to make it clear, however, that this similarity does not mean that Canada has no characteristics of her own. Such features as appear common to the people of Canada and the United States are superficial and due to similarities of physical surroundings and historical development, and to neighbourly contacts. Canada is faced with many of the same problems as the United States in such matters as immigration, development of natural resources and transportation, but in her political and social institutions, outside Quebec which is predominantly French Canadian, the main influence has been that of Great Britain. According to the 1921 census 55.4 per cent. of the total population of nearly nine millions were of British origin and 27.9 per cent. of French origin: no other race exceeded 3.5 per cent. of the population. Economic Conditions. 134. Canada has had to struggle for international trade and the development of her industries against a rival much better situated than herself. She is primarily an agricultural country, but year by year she is attaining greater importance industrially. Until the beginning of the twentieth century industrial development was steady but moderate. Since 1900 there has been an extensive exploitation of natural resources which previously had hardly been touched. Millions of acres have been placed under cultivation in Western Canada, basic industries notably the power and the pulp and paper industries in the Eastern Pro vinces have been developed, and the increase in wealth and population has given rise to increased manufacture for home. consumption as well as for external trade. 135. Canada has much heavier taxation to bear as a result of the part she played in the war and relatively less accumulated wealth to invest than the United States. The development of new industries is encouraged by providing for relief from taxation where a case is made out, and the authorities have exercised this discretionary power to the benefit of new developments. 136. The war period gave Canadian industry a great stimulus not only in the increased capacity for production, but in improved mechanical efficiency and manufacturing methods. Industry suffered from trade depression in 1921 in Canada as in the United States but since 1922 there has been a steady improvement, both in value and volume of manufacturing production and in external trade. In the calendar year 1923, the last year for which statistics are available, the total capital invested in manufacture was $3,380,322,950, the number of establishments was 22,642, the number of persons employed in manufacture 525,267, and the gross value at the factory of all goods manufactured was $2,781,165,514. The four chief industries by order of the gross value of production in 1923, are pulp and paper, flour and grist milling, saw milling, slaughtering and meat packing. Placed in order of importance according to the number of employees the chief industries are pulp and paper, iron and steel, flour and grist milling and vegetable products, and textiles. Between 1900 and 1925, the aggregate annual trade represented by exports of Canadian merchandise and imports for domestic consumption rose from 342 million dollars to 1,878 million dollars, an increase of nearly 550 per cent. Allowance must, of course, be made for the general rise in prices in that period, but even so, the actual volume of foreign purchases and sales has grown rapidly. Canada to-day is the largest per capita exporting country in the world. 137. Canada has, therefore, built on a sure foundation, and financially she has become a new country in the last fifteen years. The Canadian market is as yet too limited for many types of large scale production, but her exports of manufactured products are increasing steadily and meeting competition in the world's markets. It may confidently be expected that, as progress is made in the development of natural resources, Canadian trade and domestic industry will continue to grow at a rapid rate. 138. The Dominion of Canada may to-day be divided into four economic areas which vary in their physical features and in the nature of the development which they support. The first of these divisions includes the Maritime Provinces and Eastern Quebec; the second includes Quebec City and Montreal in the Province of Quebec, and Toronto and Hamilton in Ontario, and extends from Quebec City to the head of Lake Erie; the third is the Western Plains region extending to the Rocky Mountains; the fourth is the Pacific slope comprising the Province of British Columbia and a strip of Western Alberta. The Western Plains region is almost entirely agricultural, the main exception being Winnipeg where water power is available and industry has developed to a greater extent than is possible in other parts of the Prairie Provinces. British Columbia possesses great resources of power and raw material, and is rapidly developing industrially. The Province is, however, situated at a great distance from the domestic market in Eastern Canada, and trade is mainly with the Western States, Australia and the Far East. 139. The Maritime Provinces are chiefly concerned industrially with the production of coal and iron. There are other important industries, among which may be cited sugar refining, shipbuilding, cotton spinning, tanning, oil refining and the manufacture of agricultural implements. The Provinces are well placed for outside markets, but they are a considerable distance from the chief domestic markets of Ontario and Quebec. The hydro-electric development has also been slower than in the other Eastern Provinces. 140. The most intensive industrial area in Canada lies to the south west of the Province of Quebec and in the south of the Province of Ontario where the proximity of the United States across a water-way common to both countries has had a considerable influence on industrial progress. In this area there is practically unlimited hydro-electric power and a comparatively dense population which gives rise to an adequate supply of labour. A good deal of this labour is made up of French Canadians who are thrifty and hard working. 141. All the districts of Canada contain great natural resources which are capable of development, but it appears that the provinces of Quebec and Ontario will continue for some time to be the predominant industrial areas, by reason of their hydro-electric power, the supply of labour, and the easy access to the United States and the chief points of the domestic markets. 142. That the possibilities for industrial development are being recognised and taken advantage of by the United States is shown by the amount of United States capital invested in Canada, and by the large number of branch industries which have been established and are being introduced by United States manufacturers who are able to compete more favourably under tariff conditions for Canadian, British and Dominion trade by establishing plants in Canada. While Canadians welcome capital from the United States in the maintenance of the industrial progress of the Dominion, no one regrets more than themselves the reduced proportion of investment from Great Britain. Canada is essentially British, and it was made clear to us that an increase in the amount of British capital invested in Canada would be welcomed. The possibilities that Canada affords as a market for British goods have recently been dealt with exhaustively in an excellent report by the Senior Trade Commissioner in Canada. The annual reports of the Commissioner give full details of the finance, trade and commerce of the Dominion. Electric Power. 143. Canada is far in advance of all countries, except Norway and Switzerland, in the development of water power in relation to her population, and neither of these latter countries has the great undeveloped resources of Canada. The present installation in the Dominion represents the development of only ten per cent. of the recorded water power resources. Hydro-electric "Canada as a Market for British Goods, 1926," published by H.M Stationery Office, price 2s. 6d. net. power is now supplied at low rates to practically all industrial centres. The electric energy generated by central electric stations in Canada in 1925 was 10,110,459,000 kilowatt hours. The gross revenue received was $102,587,882 including $23,246,298 received from the electrical energy sold for redistribution, showing an average net revenue of 0.78 cent per unit, including revenue from lighting. Standardisation. 144. The benefits of the practice of standardisation are recognised by manufacturers. The Canadian Engineering Standards Association is a cooperative organisation for encouraging this practice, and useful work has been done in eliminating waste and reducing costs of production. Labour Organisation. 145. The Trades and Labour Congress of Canada which was established in 1873 is the legislative body for the organised workers in the Dominion of Canada. The Congress co-operates with the American Federation of Labour. It is not associated with any political party but deals with legislation for the betterment of social conditions and is recognised as the representative body on such matters. 146. The various international organisations are are free to organise their crafts in Canada. The Congress has power to issue charters to organisations of workers which are purely Canadian in character where the workers are not eligible for membership in a recognised international union. The organisations in the Dominion consist of:-local branches of international craft organisations with headquarters in the United States; independent trade union units; national and catholic unions; local branches of the Industrial Workers of the World with headquarters in Chicago, and the One Big Union, an international organisation on an industrial basis with headquarters in Winnipeg. 147. At the end of 1925 there were 89 international organisations operating in Canada out of a total of 123 organisations in North America. The number of branches and estimated membership of the various organisations catering for workers in Canada at the end of 1925 were as follows: 148. It will be seen that the international unions are the most important body of organised labour in Canada. Of these, the unions with the largest membership in Canada are the Railway Brotherhoods, the United Mine Workers of America, and the International Association of Machinists. National and Catholic Unions are firmly established in industrial centres in the province of Quebec. They were originally intended to be exclusively for Roman Catholics, but provision has since been made to permit non-Catholics as associate members who may vote but are not eligible to hold office. Industrial Relations. 66 149. Since the War both employers and employees in Canada have addressed themselves to industrial problems and particularly the problem of securing a permanent improvement in industrial relations. In April, 1919, a Royal Commission on Industrial Relations on which employers, employees and the public were represented considered the question. They called attention to the urgent necessity for greater co-operation between employer and employed," stressed the importance of promoting close contact between management and workpeople and unanimously recommended the adoption of the principle underlying Joint Industrial Councils and Works Committees. The recommendations of the Commission were subsequently considered and approved by a National Industrial Conference held at Ottawa in September, 1919, consisting of representatives of employers, employees and the public. A good many joint councils have since been established. The absence of such complete organisa tion as is to be found in Great Britain has resulted in the establishment of joint machinery on a shop basis rather than on a district or national basis 150. In Canada as in the United States the system of industrial relations varies from district to district and from shop to shop. There are many instances where the industrial relations in the workshop and factory are regulated by agreements between the management and union; there are several plants where a scheme of employee representation is in operation; and there are a great many plants where management and labour are in direct contact without the intervention of a works council or trade union. 151. One of the most noteworthy experiments is the co-operative plan of the Canadian National Railways which has been in operation since April, 1925, in the repair shops. We examined the plan closely and we were greatly impressed by its results, both in increased efficiency and in satisfaction to the employees, in the short period since its introduction. We give an account of the plan in Appendix No. 5. We visited also the workshops of the Canadian Pacific Railway where no formulated plan of co-operation is operating but good conditions have been maintained. Considerable importance is attached to the Railway |