8

Western Canada
Introduction
Western Canada is rich in natural resources
It is located in the heart of North America
Prior to 2014, global demand for its resources allowed high economic and population growth
Post-2014, Alberta and Saskatchewan faced difficult economic times
Manitoba continued slow but steady growth
Western Canada contains 3 provinces Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta

The two highways, the Yellowhead and the Trans-Canada, follow the earlier rail routes of the CNR and
Western Canada within Canada and CPR respectively. The Trans Mountain expansion pipeline route now under
construction closely follows the cpr line across british Columbia to tidewater at burnaby
Western Canada within Canada
It ranks second in GDP and third in population size
Vast energy resources and fertile agricultural lands form the basis of its expanding economy and population
The region has also been able to develop a strong knowledge-based economy centred on its large cities
Challenges of interior location:
Dry continental climate
Long distance to markets
Environmentalists’ opposition to pipeline construction
Overreliance on US market
An exporting region trading with the United States, European Union and the Pacific Rim
Cyclical patterns on different crops and resources (boom-and-bust cycles)
Western Canada’s Population
It comprises over 18% of national population
Most of the population is found in major cities
Large, growing, and urbanizing Indigenous population
It comprises nearly 10% of Western Canada’s total population

Western Canada contains nearly 20 per cent of

Canada’s land mass and 19 per cent of its
population. Its economic strength, as measured by
its share of the national GDP is almost 25 per cent.
For comparison, Quebec has 19 per cent of
Canada’s GDP but accounts for 23 per cent of its
population. Significantly, except for the Territorial
North, Western Canada’s population has the highest
percentage of Indigenous

Western Canada’s Physical Geography

Two major physiographic regions:
Interior Plains
Three physiographic sub-regions: the Manitoba Lowland, the Saskatchewan Plain, the Alberta Plateau
Topography is well suited for agriculture
Region’s geology is composed of sedimentary rocks that contain valuable deposits of fossil fuels
Most petroleum production occurs in the Western Sedimentary Basin
Canadian Shield
Most economic activity is associated with mining and hydroelectricity
It contains small portions of two others physiographic regions:
Cordillera
It provides logging and mining opportunities
It has developed a flourishing tourism sector
Hudson Bay Lowlands
A continental climate controls weather
The region is characterized by cold, dry winters and hot, dry summers
Low annual precipitation due to:
Distance from Pacific Ocean
Orographic uplift of Pacific air masses over Rocky Mountains
Extreme irregularity of summer precipitation (periods of drought common)
The driest lands are found in the Dry Belt (Palliser’s Triangle)
Manitoba receives heavy rainfall fueled by Gulf of Mexico air masses
Alberta and Saskatchewan rely on Pacific air masses and are more exposed to droughts
The Prairies are the agricultural hub of Western Canada
Two natural vegetation zones
Parkland and grassland
Three chernozemic soil zones
Black, dark brown, and brown
Three types of
chernozemic soils are
found in the Canadian
Prairies: black, dark brown,
and brown. The differences
in colour are due to the
varying amount of humus
in the soil, which, in turn,
is a factor in the natural
vegetation cover—short
grass, tall grass, and
parkland vegetation. The
three types of natural
vegetation reflect spatial
differences in precipitation
or, more precisely, in
evapotranspiration. Much
further north lies the Peace
River Country, where its
“degraded” black
chernozemic soil was formed in a moister environment under an aspen forest where annual precipitation
exceeds 500 mm. In comparison, annual average precipitation in the grassland zone is under 400 mm

Prairies can be divided into

three areas: the Fertile Belt,
the Dry Belt, and the Peace
River Country. Each region
has a distinct type of
agriculture because of
variations in physical
geography. Key factors are
limited moisture and the
length of the growing
season.
Climate Change and the Oil Sands
Alberta has one of the world’s largest oil reserves
Extracting oil from the Athabasca tar sands poses 3 major environmental challenges
The upgrading process produces most of Canada’s greenhouse emissions
Open-pit mining creates a scarred industrial landscape
3. Separating oil from bitumen requires huge quantities of water taken from the Athabasca River

Alberta’s oil sands industry produces large amount of toxic water that is stored in tailing ponds
Problems with tailing ponds:
Toxic water must be stored in large ponds for an indefinite time
Amount of toxic water is increasing every day
Leakage from these ponds has a negative effect on the landscape, groundwater, and surface waters
Reclamation of tailing ponds remains an elusive and expensive problem
Climate Change and Agriculture
Two factors placing pressure on water resources:
Climate warming
Growing population and industry increase demand for scarce water supplies
The Dry Belt (Palliser’s Triangle) is the most vulnerable area for drought
Manitoba faces instead the opposite problem as it experiences the risk of flooding

Palliser Expedition (1857) was to determine sustainability of Canadian West for agricultural settlement
It found that fertile land in western interior existed and that land in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan was too
dry for farming
Henry Hind’s expedition (1858) confirmed that the long-grass area and parkland offered best land for
agricultural settlement
Western Canada’s Historical Geography
Before the arrival of Europeans, the lands of Western Canada were inhabited by the Cree and Blackfoot nations
They survived by hunting buffalos and other game
Different techniques were used in hunting buffalos
Beginning in 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company administered much of Canada’s western interior for 200 years
Lands ceded to Canada by the British in 1870
But no mention was made of Indigenous peoples
Red River Settlement
Land acquired by Lord Selkirk in 1810
First Scottish settlers arrived in 1812 to form an agricultural settlement
Later the land was settled by Métis, the offspring of former officers and servants of the HBC and their
Indigenous wives
They focused on subsistence farming, freighting, and buffalo hunting
Métis were Catholic and spoke French
In the 19th century, Plains people and Métis formed the majority of the population
Both depended on the buffalo and the fur-trade
Once the buffalos went extinct, the Plains people signed treaties and moved to reserves
Métis formed organized settlements and resisted, led by Louis Riel
Red River Resistance (1869)
Battle of Batoche and hanging of Riel (1885)
Western Canada’s Historical Geography, cont’d
Red River Resistance concluded with the Métis obtaining major concessions from Ottawa:
Guaranteed ownership of land
Recognition of the French language
Permission to maintain Roman Catholic schools
Ottawa sent troops to exert Canada’s control over the new province of Manitoba
Settlers began to pour into Manitoba changing the demographic balance
Métis left and relocated to Batoche
Western Canada’s Historical Geography, cont’d
When settlers began once again to encroach on their agricultural settlements, the Métis started a resistance
They were led by Louis Riel
Canadian militia defeated them at the Battle of Batoche
Riel was arrested, found guilty, and hanged
Once the buffalos went extinct, treaties offered First Nations groups prospects for survival and time to find a
place in a new economy
Treaties also made them wards of the Crown
First Nations were isolated from evolving Canadian society
By the 1950s, life on the land had its hardships
Many Indigenous people in the northern reaches of the Prairie provinces moved to settlements
Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885
The CPR achieved four nation-building goals:
It united Canada from coast to coast
It secured for Canada the vast territory west of Rupert’s Land
It allowed for settlement of Prairies
It permitted the development of a flourishing western grain economy
Western Canada’s Historical Geography, cont’d
Settlement of Western Canada is one of the world’s great migrations
It transformed the Prairies into an agricultural resource hub
Campaign for settlers from Great Britain later widened to include Central/Eastern Europe
Western Canada Today
Characterized by growing economy and population:
Alberta accounts for 72% of region’s GDP and 63% of its population
Its economic wealth was built on oil and gas
The collapse of oil prices has hit the province hard
Saskatchewan has valuable cropland and is a leading producer of potash and uranium
Manitoba has the richest agricultural land in the West and vast amounts of hydroelectric power
Industrial Structure
Strong resource-based economy
Economy has shifted more into an advanced economy where information and research are widespread
Growing trend towards processing agricultural products and widening mineral production
Overall, primary activities are prominent in the region
Knowledge-based economy is closely linked to research and development (R&D)
Applied research takes place in a variety of fields, but the focus is on agriculture, energy, and potash
The push for advancing technology in these sectors is generated by the need to export these products to foreign
markets
Canada is the number one producer of potash in the world
Technological Spearheads
Focus on primary sector activities: agriculture, oil, and mining
The digital industry is instead thriving in major cities
Technological advances have made all sectors more efficient and, specifically where agriculture is concerned,
more suitable for prairie growing conditions:
Plant breeding and biotechnology
Horizontal drilling in oil shale
Carbon capture and storage
Carbon capture involves trapping the carbon dioxide at the Boundary Dam Power Station and shipping the
carbon dioxide gas by pipeline to the Weyburn-Midale oil field where the gas is pumped underground to
enhance the extraction of oil

Western Canada’s Economic Anchor: Agriculture

Agriculture remains key economic component
although no longer principal engine of economic
growth
Key trends:
Larger farms, fewer and older farmers
Technology that allows for less fallow land and
more cropland
Adoption of advanced technology
Depopulation and demise of rural towns
Growth of foreign markets for pulse and specialty
crops

Saskatchewan dominates total field crop

The decline in agricultural operations (farms) indicates the effect of mechanization and the increase in larger
farms, which allows efficient use of machinery. While this graph portrays Canada, the trend is
found in all regions, including Western Canada.

Western Canada has rich agricultural land made up of chernozemic soils

Agricultural regions:
Fertile Belt
Dry Belt
Agricultural fringe
Peace River Country
Fertile Belt
Black soil associated with parkland and long-grass vegetation
Best environment for crop agriculture and for livestock
Once centered around grain farming, it has been taken over by canola, pulse and specialty crops
Dry Belt
It contains cattle ranches and large grain farms
Arid soil resulting from low precipitation and high evapotranspiration rates
Several natural hazards make farming more difficult
Extensive irrigation systems in southern Alberta
Western Canada’s Economic Anchor: Agriculture, cont’d
Agricultural fringe
Short growing season
Peace River Country
Short growing season, but longer length of daylight in the summer than the Fertile and Dry belts
Land use pattern dominated by grain, hay, and pasture
Western Canada is the world’s leading canola producer
Shift away from wheat as traditional staple due to falling world prices and high transportation costs
Its popularity lies in its profitability
Beef livestock concentrated in southern Alberta
Main export market is the US

Western Canada’s Resource Base

Vast and rich natural assets:
Agriculture land
Oil sands
Potash reserves
Dependence on export markets
Until commodity prices remain low,
economies of Alberta and Saskatchewan will
remain sluggish
Western Canada’s Resource Base, cont’d
Three oil sands fields:
Athabasca
Peace River
Cold Lake
Alberta’s oil sands projects symbolize all that
is right and wrong with resource development
Opposition is growing, oil prices are declining,
new investments are unlikely, and federal
approval is not guaranteed

Alberta ranks third in the world in oil reserves.

Alberta’s total oil reserves are 170.8 billion
barrels, of which crude bitumen reserves
account for 169.3 billion barrels and
conventional crude oil reserves for 1.5 billion
barrels. Clearly, the oil sands formed the basis
of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s
claim in 2006 that Canada was an emerging
“energy superpower.” Over a decade later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vision is much less enthusiastic. In
fact, lower oil prices mean that new projects are no longer viable and the full exploitation of the vast oil sands
has been put to res

Mining in Western Canada

Dependence on export to foreign markets
Mineral deposits include coal, potash, gold, nickel, and uranium
Environmentalists oppose mining because of its negative impact
A significant component of the economy in Western Canada
Canada is world’s largest exporter of potash because of deposits found in Saskatchewan
While production has increased each year to 2019, annual prices suddenly declined 10 years ago from over
US$900 per tonne in 2009 to US$300 in 2010. Since then, continued low prices have caused higher-cost mines
to either reduce production or close temporarily. For example, the Colonsay mine reduced its output in 2016 and
then was temporarily closed in 2019
Forest Industry: Is a Revival in Sight?
Forest industry depends on exports to the US
Industry declined as a result of US housing crisis
Indigenous workers and businesses were hit particularly hard
Federal government, under its Green Transformation Program, has provided financial assistance for capital
investments in industry

Western Canada’s Urban Core

Economic and demographic advances are taking place in major urban areas
Six major cities:
Calgary
Edmonton
Winnipeg
Saskatoon
Regina
Lethbridge
Technology is driving the economy in all six cities
Calgary–Edmonton corridor
Most urbanized region in Western Canada
Hub for knowledge-based activities
Rate of population growth exceeds 25%
Calgary is a major corporation headquarter for the oil and gas industry
Edmonton is a petrochemical industrial node
Summary
Western Canada is home to a variety of resources
Distance from ocean ports and climate poses challenges, including: low commodity prices, dry weather, and
global warming
Transformation of economy is clear with more agricultural processing, a larger service sector, knowledge-based
research clusters
Population is clustered in major cities