CANADA

• The Fur Trade

  Scots that went over to Canada had a major impact on the fur trade

  The fur trade was dominated by Hudsons bay company, and it was dominated by the scots

  The Hudson bay company recruited heavily in the western and northern isles of Scotland

  Orkney was the best place to find willing workers as many had to pay off debts before returning to Scotland
• Farming

  Although the fur trade became very successful, it never employed vast numbers of emigrants. It was farming and industry that attracted most new emigrants. Scots had settled in the fertile districts of Ontario for years before 1830, but the clearances encouraged a large number of highlanders to move there.
• Farming

  By 1849 one in six inhabitants of the 17,500 people living there had the surname MacDonnell or MacDonald. Astonishingly this part of Canada made up the largest Gaelic speaking population outside Scotland at that time. Scots also had a good reputation because they brought to Canada new ideas on how to farm, which helped to improve greatly the amount of crops produced.
• Railways

  Scots impact on the Canadian economy was largely through the transatlantic rail system. Strong support for the rail system came from the first prime minister of Canada sir john macdonald he was born in Glasgow and he moved to Canada at the age of 5 and was the prime minister for 18 years. Macdonald believed that a railway would help unite the territories of Canada Scots were also vital in the financing and engineering in the railway, as the main engineer of the railway was a scot, Sandford Fleming
• Banking

  There is also evidence to suggest that scots had an impact in developing Canadian businesses, particularly banking. Surveys conducted into the Canadian business elite in the 19th and 20th centuries examined factors such as father’s birthplace. The 1885 and 1901 surveys showed that around 30 per cent of business leaders had Scottish farthers, even though scots made up only 16 per cent of the Canadian population.

  Scots were particularly heavily involved in banking. Many took the expertise gained from the established Scottish banking sector.
• Education

  Scots were important in the development of the Canadian education system, in 1831 Bishop MacEachern formed a collage and this was the start of higher education in prince Edward island A Scot was the first principal of pictou academy in Nova Scotia, he based the curriculum that was based on the the curriculum offered at Glasgow uni The mcgill university a university that was funded by james mcgill a man from Glasgow who had emigrated

  The Scottish curriculum had a massive impact on the Canadian one as they offered similar subjects and classes
• Politics

  Scots also featured prominently in Canadian politics. Many scots emigrants were politicians in Canada when it became a dominion in 1867. these men were formative in the first laws, policies and ideas that shaped Canadian politics and culture.

  For example, the first Canadian prime minister was John A. MacDonald, who was born in Glasgow. He was prime minister from 1867 to 1873, and again from 1878 to 1891.
• Culture

  Scotland had a huge impact on the broader culture of Canada, Canadian literature was influenced by Scottish writers like Robert burns

  The scots influence on Canadian culture also had to do with the Scottish dominated education and publishing houses

  Scottish Gaelic culture can be seen in the way Canada embraced the ceildh, bagpipes, tartan and curling

  There are places in Canada named after places in Scotland like: new stirling, lomand and Kilsyth
• Native Societies

  Although most scots had a positive impact on the development of Canada, but as scots came into contact with natives they left a lasting negative impact on them

  One negative impact scots had was a legacy of alcohol addiction, the scots involvement in the fur trade also led to native fur businesses struggling

  Another negative impact was the spread of disease as scots travelled into Canada they brought new germs and disease with them