Shipbuilding in Canada

For a long period only barques and pinnaces were built in New France. In the 1660s Governor Jean Talon took shipbuilding in hand and, with his special genius, tried to establish it on solid foundations. Numerous difficulties arose, however: skilled labour was scarce, and materials had to be imported from France, which made the ships expensive. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that there was a boom in the lumber industry and shipbuilding. At that time there was a heavy reliance on Britain for technology, capital, and markets for this industry, with the bulk of the vessels constructed for Great Britain. The largest concentration of shipbuilding in British America was at Quebec, especially in the faubourg Saint-Roch. In the 1850s the industry provided a living for nearly half the population of the city. The decline in the building and use of wooden ships in the 1870s spelled the end of numerous shipyards. A new generation of steel-hulled steamships emerged, confirmed by the launch on 4 May 1889 of the Manitoba, the first Canadian-built, all-steel passenger vessel.