Wheat Staple in Upper and Lower Canada

Paper Summary:

The importance of wheat to the Canadian economy is not a new phenomenon. On the contrary, as far back as the 18th Century and earlier, there existed a significant agricultural sector. As the political environments differed in Upper and Lower Canada, though, so too did the development of agriculture, particularly the cultivation of wheat. To understand the importance of this crop, this paper sheds light on the impact of the wheat staple in the late 1700s and early 1800s on the Canadian economy. It presents information on different backgrounds and institutions that were involved and shows that the history of wheat cultivation in Lower Canada was greatly influenced by the colonial institutions of New France.

From the Paper:

"This pattern of landowners moving into Lower Canada created a new demand for agricultural land. In addition to the existing French Canadian settlers who still farmed the seigneurial land, many English settlers either settled as new free-hold tenants, or bought seigneuries. Some French farmers were displaced onto land further north, away from the St. Lawrence where most of the seigneuries bordered. These displaced farmers were forced to attempt to cultivate less fertile land in order to serve the demand for wheat exports to Britain. This "displacement... was caused by the growing population on the established seigneuries... and the apparent unwillingness of French Canadians to leave their native land." (Marr, 1980, p83)."

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