Pre-War Economic and Social Developments

In the years before World War I wealth and poverty changed Canad. There was a very big line between the rich and the poor. The rich lived in a exclusive neighborhood called "The Square Mile" wich was located in the center of the city. The poor out numbered the rich. Many of the rich famlies were leaders in Canada's emerging industrialiaztion. Many of the rich famlies had a domesticated staff of 19 to care for only 6 people. The rich famlies held many parties and dinners as the poor struggled just to get by. The poor famalies lived in crowded apartments: some 2 or 3 people to a bed: some without beds. Children had to go out and find jobs at a young age. Many of these jobs didnt pay more than 13 cents an hour, not enough to even by a stick of butter. Alot of children died in sweat shops. the average life expectancy was 50 years. One child in every four died before the age of one. Montreal had the highest infant mortality rate in North America. The poor just struggled to get by. Conditions got worse as people flocked into the city brought by immigration. Between 1891 and 1911 the population more than doubled from 216,000 to 528,000. Someting needed to be done to help these people.

Rasheda Venus Ross