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Canada's Economy Research Paper

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Today, Canada’s economy is about the 15th largest economy in the world. According to OEC, Canada has the 11th largest exporter in the world. Exporting and trading has been a major characteristic of the Canadian economy before Canada even became a country. Its economic history begins prior to European colonization with First Nations societies commonly hunting and trading. Exporting will always be a prominent aspect of Canada’s economy. One characteristic about why Canada has one of the world’s largest economies is because Canada has a vast land that provides so many natural resources that can be exploited and traded. Looking at how Canada’s economy developed in its early stages are important historically and economically for many reasons. Firstly, …show more content…

Canada’s geographical location was in close proximity to places such as Europe and the United States. It is also a country which has a land that is extremely abundant with natural resources that could be exploited. It also featured an already established trade network between the Indigenous tribes and the French and British who would trade for furs. These characteristics of Canada made European people permanently settle and colonize the lands. As they became settled the Europeans began to exploit Canada for its vast abundance of resources that they could trade. They would trade products such as alcohol and weapons to the Aboriginals in exchange for their furs. That was the beginning of the Fur Trade that became one of Canada’s biggest industries to export all over. This settlement as well as the Europeans who settled in the Atlantic region of Canada began to approach the fishing industry. Both fishing and the fur-trade became the foremost products of Canada well into the 19th century. One main aspect that allowed these products and industries to flourish was the waterways that both products depended on to be exported and traded. Mackintosh (1923) notes that the important area of Canada, the Atlantic coast, was easily accessible by the first European settlers who took advantage of Canada’s structure, including the waterways, that was one of the most critical elements that allowed the country to develop (p. 13). “That structure shaped the course of westward progress; it facilitated or hindered the connection of the frontier with the older settlements and with Europe; it selected to some extent its own settlers; and together with other factors it determined the trend of industrial production” (Mackintosh, 1923, p. 12). The major waterways such as the St. Lawrence river and the Great Lakes allowed the products to move westward and

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