Introduction

Urbanization on a major scale is a 20th century phenomenon in Canada. The proportion of the population which lived in urban places rose from 13% in 1851 to 35% in 1901 and approached 50% only by 1921. These figures are roughly similar to those for the United States but are far lower than those for Great Britain or in that most urbanized of colonies, Australia. Statistics outlining the degree of urbanization, however, may give an overly negative impression about the place of cities and the urban dimension in 19th century Canada. Some of the basic essentials of the urban system in central eastern Canada were established by the middle of the 19th century. By 1851 the nine largest cities—Montreal (with a population of over 50,000), Quebec City, Saint John (including Portland), Toronto, Halifax, Hamilton, Kingston, Ottawa, and London—had developed into dynamic commercial centers and had won metropolitan hegemony over sizeable hinterlands.