performed which has had some salutary effect 

 upon the acute housing problem which has been 

 serious since the war and the return of the army 

 from overseas. 



Construction contracts awarded in Canada 

 during 1920, including all cities, towns, villages 

 and rural districts, amounted to $255,605,500, 

 comparing with $189,821,300 in 1919 and 

 $99,842,300 in 1918. Of this total, $21,395,000 

 contracts were awarded in the Maritime pro- 

 vinces, $54,904,600 in Quebec, $108,120,800 in 

 Ontario and$71, 185, 100 in the Western provinces. 

 The value of contracts in residences was $54,891,- 

 100; business construction, $86,073,200; indus- 

 trial, $64,625,900; and engineering, $50,015,300. 



Construction Below Normal 



A review of building in Canada for the past 

 decade reveals the fact that upon the estimated 

 normal increase of thirty-five cities, the amount 

 of construction in the past few years has been 

 considerably below that required. That this is 

 entirely a war condition is made certain by the 

 fact that in 1912, when construction reached its 

 zenith in the ten-year period, it was very much 

 above the necessary normal, and though declin- 

 ing somewhat in 1913, maintained this ascend- 

 ancy over requisition and did not go below the 

 line of normal increase until 1914. 



Though the past two years have witnessed 

 considerable activity in an attempt to get back 

 to the normal amount of annual construction, 

 and the result in the face of the difficulties with 

 which the situation was fraught has been in the 

 main satisfactory, the amount of deferred build- 

 ing in Canada is stated by authorities to be 

 enormous. Many public buildings are needed, 

 Federal, Provincial and Municipal, which have 

 been held up all over the country first on account 

 of the war, and since then on account of the 

 increased cost of construction. A large number 

 of corporations require new buildings, such as 

 stations, offices and hotels. Almost every 

 municipality is in immediate need of building 

 roads, bridges, sewers, waterworks, sidewalks, 

 etc. The housing problem is still serious and the 

 number of houses, apartments, and other resi- 

 dential dwellings required is a very large one, 

 and covers all sections of the Dominion. 



The Industrial Outlook in Western Canada 



By John F. Sweeting, Industrial Agent, C.P.R., 

 Winnipeg, Man. 



By the time this article is published the 

 western farmer will be on his land preparing and 

 seeding it for the 1921 crop. The area under 

 summer fallow and fall ploughing is large, and 

 with an open, early season the acreage under 

 cultivation this year should exceed that of 1920. 



Already,' there is a noticeable change in 

 western business conditions; high prices and 



heavy stocks have been replaced by lower 

 prices and smaller stocks and the trader is nibbling 

 at new merchandise nibbling only because he 

 has the idea that prices may go lower and, 

 therefore, he is not buying to the extent of 

 entire replacement. This is a situation which 

 will rapidly change, and it is apparent that the 

 West is on the eve of an era of prosperity that 

 will extend over the next few years, putting 

 production on a firmer basis than heretofore. 

 The policy of watchful waiting is not entirely 

 one of western promotion; it is applicable to 

 most countries, and each year the same tendency 

 to await spring developments before commit- 

 ments of any size are made, is evident. 



Evidence of Development Urge 



To-day, there is abundant evidence of an 

 expansion desire urge, and enquiries coming 

 from the outside world give promise of much 

 help in both money and people settlement of 

 prairie lands and development of western 

 resources. Manufacturers in Great Britain, it is 

 noticeable, are studying the possibilities of 

 extending their markets for agricultural machin- 

 ery and tractors, while textile firms have under 

 consideration the British Columbia coast as a 

 likely spot for branch factories. There has 

 never been a keener desire for information 

 regarding Canada's requirements and power of 

 development than at the present time the 

 result of a growing knowledge of the potential 

 wealth of Canada through carefully prepared 

 and widely distributed information which for 

 many years has been disseminated by the daily 

 press, periodicals and government and railroad 

 literature in many parts of the world. 



Recent investigations indicate that while 

 business is small in volume, it is each day being 

 put on a better basis, with a tendency to all 

 possible repayment of loans, while country col- 

 lections, if not up to the average, are not in a 

 position that will be detrimental to a continua- 

 tion of business. 



Now, when within a few weeks the real work 

 of the year will commence, the prevailing idea 

 throughout the West is that Canada is on the 

 threshold of a development which will bring with 

 it prosperity not only to those already in the 

 Dominion but to the countless thousands who, 

 during this and the following years, are to make 

 their homes in this country. 



Rabbit Farming 



The Canadian wilds are fast disappearing as 

 with the rapidity of agricultural settlement the 

 farmer in his northward trend yearly encroaches 

 to a greater extent upon them. Inevitably must 

 game diminish and the number of fur bearers 

 dwindle -at once limiting the sources of the 

 Dominion's meat and fur supply and restricting 



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