Another tree of the region of considerable 

 present economic value is the tamarac, which is 

 found in the swamps and muskegs and is used 

 extensively in the keels of boats, etc. Hard- 

 woods are extremely scarce in the Territories with 

 the exception of birch which is found fairly gen- 

 erally. 



Exploration of the north has dispelled another 

 illusion, that of a treeless desert. Not only is the 

 valuable timber supply this region possesses 

 of present convenience to settlement and 

 industrial enterprise, but, if protected adequately, 

 constitutes a rich reserve against the time when 

 the demand for more raw material for paper 

 manufacture takes manufacturers to the West. 



Canada's Population 



The total population of Canada in the census 

 of 1921, according to figures issued by the Dom- 

 inion government, is 8,769,489 as compared 

 with 7,206,643 in the census of 1911, an in- 

 crease of 1,562,846 for the ten years, or nearly 

 twenty-two per cent. All the provinces of the 

 Dominion exhibit increases with the excep- 

 tion of Prince Edward Island, the Yukon and 

 the Northwest Territories, whose decreases 

 are explained by circumstances and conditions. 

 The growth of population is especially marked 

 in the West, the Prairie Provinces and British 

 Columbia having together added nearly one 

 half to their numbers. 



Ontario is the most populous province of Can- 

 ada with a population of 2,929,054, followed 

 fairly closely by Quebec with 2,349,067. Sas- 

 katchewan follows with 761, 390; Manitoba 613,- 

 000; Alberta 581,995; Nova Scotia 523,837; 

 British Columbia 523,353; New Brunswick 387,- 

 839; Prince Edward Island 88,615; Northwest 

 Territories 6,684; and the Yukon 4,162. The 

 province of Saskatchewan shows the greatest 

 proportional increase in population since the 

 taking of the last census with an addition of 

 80 per cent. Alberta grew by 55 per cent; 

 Manitoba 34J^ per cent; British Columbia 33 

 per cent; Quebec 17 per cent; Ontario 10 per 

 cent; New Brunswick 10 per cent and Nova 

 Scotia 6 l /2 percent. The Northwest Territories 

 returned a decline in population of 63 J^ per 

 cent; the Yukon 51 per cent and Prince Edward 

 Island 5}4 per cent. 



A Shifting of Boundaries 



The declines in certain areas are readily 

 explainable and were expected. Since the 

 beginning of the century the production of gold 

 in the Yukon, which constituted the main and 

 virtually sole industry of that territory, has 

 been dwindling, and the producing area of Can- 

 ada has now shifted from the Yukon to Nor- 

 thern Ontario. A migration of population 

 accompanied the slow death of the industry, 

 which had its effects in registering such a serious 



decline in the number of people in the territory. 

 It is probable, however, that few of these people 

 were lost to the Dominion and that the majority 

 settled in the provinces further south, and helped 

 to swell their totals at this census. 



The severe decline in the Northwest Terri- 

 tories seems difficult to credit or account for 

 until it is recollected that on May 15th, 1912, 

 one year after the previous census, a greater 

 Manitoba came into existence with its previous 

 narrow boundaries stretched until they embraced 

 Hudson's Bay. This took into provincial 

 jurisdiction the richer, more productive and 

 populous part of the Territories, so that its popu- 

 lation at this census went to swell the total of 

 Manitoba's people and assisted in giving the 

 provinces such a percentage of increase. 



Population Moving Westward 



Prince Edward Island shows a small decline and 

 other Maritime provinces the smallest increases of pop 

 lation in the Dominion. This is partially accounted fo 

 in the fact that there is a constant movement of sub- 

 stantial volume from the older East to the newer West 

 which annually depletes the Maritime population to build 

 up another section of the country. It is to be feared, 

 however, that a portion of the lost population were those 

 drawn away by the United States in its period of extra- 

 ordinary war-time industrial prosperity. 



The census of 1921 {joes to show that the weight of 

 population in Canada is moving westwards with the 

 opening for settlement of new areas and the general de- 

 velopment of the territory west of the Great Lakes. In 

 1871 there were only 109,475 inhabitants out of a total 

 population of 3,689,257 in the Dominion. In 1881 there 

 were 168,165 out of a total population of 4,324,810. In 

 1891 the number of inhabitants of the western half of 

 Canada had doubled since the previous census and there 

 was a population west of the Great Lakes of 339,646 out 

 of 4,833,239 in all Canada. In 1901 the western prov- 

 inces and territories numbered 645,517 people out of 

 Canada's total of 5,371,415. In 1911 Western Canada 

 had 1,742,182 people, approximately 24 per cent of the 

 Dominion population, and according to the 1921 census 

 they have 2,490,592 inhabitants or approximately 28 per 

 cent of all Canada's people. In the past decade the com- 

 bined population of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta 

 and British Columbia has increased from 1,645,189 to 

 2,419,746, or by more than 47 per cent. 



A Healthy Increase 



Twenty-two per cent is a fairly healthy rate of in- 

 crease for a decade when it is considered that for half 

 this time Canada was enthralled in the affairs of war and 

 emerged to become involved in solving the serious problems 

 of the aftermath. The flower of the Canadian Army 

 did not return from overseas; immigration from overseas 

 during the period of hostilities was impracticable and 

 none were added to her population in this wise; in the 

 tense economic situation which developed after the war, 

 it was considered wise to seriously limit the entry of 

 new citizens who were beginning again to clamor at her 

 gates. All these factors have worked against population 

 increase. The average increase of births over deaths in 

 Canada is in the average year something less than 100,000. 

 Canada's main agent in population building has been her 

 immigration tide. This amounted in volume in the 

 years between the taking of the last census and 1914 to 

 between 300,000 and 400,000 per year. It virtually 

 stopped during the war, and in 1921, under the policy of 

 limitation in force since its conclusion, aggregated only 

 100,000. Population building in the decade has been 

 uphill work and twenty-two per cent may be considered 

 a good achievement. 



58 



