Innovation And Thirties Of Urbanization In Canada During The 1920s And 1930s

Canadian society makes great strides of progress each decade, but one of the greatest transformations in the nation’s history occurred during the 1920s and 1930s. These decades were rich with cultural growth through innovation and urbanization. The twenties and thirties were a time of immense growth, modernization and industrialization in Canada due to its exciting inventions, developing urbanization and tumultuous economy.

The twenties and thirties were a time of electronic innovation that allowed present-day Canadians to have the type of technology that they use on a daily basis. One of the innovations that revolutionized Canada during the twenties was the automobile. Henry Ford completely changed North America’s views on the car and found

Canada’s central areas of urbanization during these periods were on roads, cities and suburbs. The popularity of cars in this time period made it imperative for roads to be maintained and for highways to be created for long-distance travel (Gilchrist). Roads were now made from tar instead of stone or dirt, and highways stretched across far distances for optimal travel (Gilchrist). Roads now allowed Canadians to have access to areas that they had never been to before and to experience new things. The roads built in that time period have deteriorated and have been repaired with more modern technology over the ages, but the paths that they created are still traveled on (Baldwin… the 1930s 19). These original routes have been built upon and more roads have been created around them with the roads from the 1920s acting as guidelines to how we drive and create roads today (Gilchrist). This new ability to travel inspired many Canadians, especially those from rural areas, to move to different regions throughout the nation. The development of cities with skyscrapers, hospitals and markets invited many Canadians to move away from their countryside hometowns (Cruxton, Wilson 166). This caused the population in cities to grow exponentially and resulted in the population of rural areas decreasing dramatically (Baldwin…

Aside from urbanization, Canada’s natural resources were in high international demand, allowing that industry to grow immensely. Ores and pulp were extremely valuable during the twenties, which caused Canada to gain a great profit from selling a variety of its natural materials to other countries. The popularity of the newspaper required more lumber to be sold, of which Canada had a lot to offer (Baldwin… the 1920s 18). This high demand caused the international trade rate of pulp to rise from $21 per ton in 1914 to $93 in 1920 and was a strong boost to Canada’s natural resources industries (Walters). The other main materials that Canada sold were metals used for manufacturing such as gold, copper, zinc, lead, silver and others that were in high demand in these decades and were mined in large quantities in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia (Drummond). During these decades Canada created an international reputation as a nation with abundant resources, which it upholds to this day. Although Canada’s raw material industry has changed, it remains one of the most important parts of Canada’s economy since it emerged in the 1920s (Drummond). Aside from having an abundance of natural resources, Canada also became known for its dependence on America’s economy that was originally forged during the 1920s and 1930s. One of the most obvious forms of America’s economic involvement in Canada during these periods