What was the significance of the Canadian Pacific Railway?

Completed in 1885, the CPR connected Canada from coast to coast, enabling the settlement of the west and binding Canada together as a nation. It was a condition of British Columbia joining Confederation.

What was the Dominion of Canada?

The official name of Canada from 1867. Canada was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, with the British monarch as Head of State.

Canadian Citizenship Test · Study Guide

Building a Nation

Canada from Confederation to the early 20th century — westward expansion, the railway, and the settlement of the Prairie provinces.

**John A. Macdonald**
Canada's first Prime Minister, Macdonald served from 1867-1873 and 1878-1891. His "National Policy" promoted high tariffs to protect Canadian industry, mass immigration to settle the West, and the Canadian Pacific Railway.

**The Canadian Pacific Railway**
Completed in 1885 when the Last Spike was driven at Craigellachie, BC, the CPR linked Canada from coast to coast. It was essential for bringing British Columbia into Confederation (1871) and for settling the Prairies.

**Louis Riel and the Métis**
Louis Riel led two Métis resistances:
• The **Red River Resistance (1869-70)** led to the creation of Manitoba
• The **North-West Resistance (1885)** in Saskatchewan was suppressed by troops carried west on the CPR. Riel was hanged for treason in November 1885 — a deeply controversial act.

**Women's rights**
• 1916: Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta granted women the right to vote provincially
• 1918: Women won the right to vote in federal elections
• 1929: The Famous Five — Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards — won the Persons Case, establishing that women were "persons" under the law

**The First World War (1914-1918)**
Canada entered WWI in 1914. About 620,000 Canadians served; approximately 60,000 were killed. The **Battle of Vimy Ridge** (April 1917) is considered a defining moment in Canadian nationhood — all four Canadian divisions fought together and captured a ridge that had defeated British and French forces.

The Halifax Explosion (1917) — caused by a munitions ship collision — killed approximately 2,000 people.

**Between the wars**
The Statute of Westminster (1931) gave Canada full legislative independence from Britain. The Great Depression (1929-1939) devastated Canada, particularly the Prairie provinces.

**The Second World War (1939-1945)**
Canada declared war on Germany in September 1939, demonstrating its independent foreign policy. Canadian forces played crucial roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Dieppe Raid (1942) and D-Day (June 6, 1944), when Canadians landed at Juno Beach and advanced further inland than any other Allied force.