Land Settlement in Northern Areas of Western Canada (1925-35)

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science
• Main Author: England, Robt.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1935
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; General Environmental Science; Canada; Peace River
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/136711; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0315489000023665

Rural population in the three Prairie Provinces increased from 1921 to 1931 by 17 per cent., and land in farms in these provinces in 1931 totalled 110,000,000 acres, an increase of 23 per cent. since 1921. A study of the census returns reveals that the largest population increases occurred in the northern territory. Rural population in Manitoba has been relatively stable with normal increases in the northern census divisions 14 and 15, while there is a 50 per cent. increase in population—over 10,000—in census division 16 which reflects the mining development of The Pas. When we turn to Saskatchewan we find that the census divisions 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, and 17 had a population of 234,015 in 1921 and the 1931 census lists the population at 308,399, an increase of one-third in the decade. As we move further west we find that in Alberta the census divisions 10, 12, 13, and 14 were rather less than 100,000 in 1921 (95,916) and this increased to 136,308 in 1931, an increase of slightly less than 40 per cent. The Peace River population in census divisions 15 and 16 increased from 18,000 to over 41,000, an increase of over 100 per cent. The census divisions in which Saskatoon and Edmonton are to be found are not included in these figures. Both these cities increased their population heavily in the period.