Module 8: Prairie Provinces Lesson 8-1

Prairie Provinces
This region is home to the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan,
and Manitoba.

The provincial flags and legislatures of Alberta (left), Saskatchewan (centre), and Manitoba
(right).

Though they are referred to as the Prairie Provinces, the

landscape of the northern part of each province is primarily
boreal forest.

The economy is based on energy resources and agriculture.

Oil is the most important natural resource and is found in the

western part of the region.

Tourism is highest in the foothills of the Rockies.

There is a high Indigenous population and relatively high Eastern

European population.

Name Origins
Alberta
th

Princess Louise Caroline Alberta was the 4 daughter of Queen

Victoria and Prince Albert.
Saskatchewan

Derived from a Cree word meaning “swift flowing water”.

Manitoba

Derived from a Cree word meaning “straits of the great spirit”.

Physical Geography
The region mainly lies within the Interior Plains and Canadian
Shield.

The climate is characterized by cold, dry winters and hot, dry

summers.

Extreme temperatures (-40°C to 35°C) are a result of the far

distance from ocean influences.

Orographic uplift of Pacific air masses over the Rockies cause

them to lose moisture leaving little precipitation for the Prairie
Provinces.

The Great Sand Hills

This is an isolated area located in southwestern Saskatchewan.

It is a unique landscape formed from wind that has caused the

sandy beach deposits of former glacial lakes to form into dunes.

The dunes have stabilized and remain in place as grasslands have

encroached around them.

Historical Geography
Land surveyors were preparing the land for Eastern European
settlement in the late 1860s. Due to the lack of topographic
obstacles it was easy to divide the land into a grid system with
lots of perfect squares.
Each square lot was 1⁄4 of a square mile in size.

The land survey pattern ignored the fact that some land was
already occupied by Indigenous Peoples.

Surveying the Land

The most populous Indigenous Peoples in the region were the
Métis (over 12,000 people). They responded to the surveyors
with organized rebellions.

Other more semi-nomadic Indigenous Peoples felt little choice but

to sign treaties.

Each newcomer family from Eastern Europe was given one square
lot.

In many cases they were given the land on which to build a

homestead for free but at that time there was no access to
electricity or plumbing.

Challenges Facing Homesteaders

The grid and square based survey system encouraged a highly
dispersed rural population which created a sense of isolation.

Many settlers were not prepared for the climate (cold, drought,
wind, thunderstorms, hail) and the far distance to any large
population centres.

Homesteaders were forced to be innovative (e.g. practicing

summer fallow) for their crops to succeed.

summer fallow: the practice of leaving land idle for a year or more to accumulate soil moisture

Political Movements in the Prairies

Several new parties developed in the region as a result of
dissatisfaction with the federal government.
1. CCF (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation)

It had a socialist philosophy and is currently known as the New

Democratic Party.

2. Social Credit Party (1935-1993)

It had a strict religious philosophy; popularity was maximized in

the 1940s and 1950s.

3. Reform Party (1987-2000)

It was founded in Alberta and had a strong conservative (right-

wing) philosophy.
It became the official opposition in Ottawa and then changed its
name to the Canadian Alliance.

4. Canadian Alliance (2000-2003)

Once led by Stephen Harper, it merged with the Progressive

Conservative Party in 2003 to form the current Conservative
Party.

The Canadian Pacific Railway

John A. Macdonald’s vision of Canada included a railway
extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The U.S. had already completed three transcontinental railways

by the 1870s.

The Hudson Bay Company owned much of the land in the West.
The federal government paid the company in exchange for
allowing the construction of the railway.

Module 8: Prairie Provinces Lesson 8-2

Early Settlement Patterns

Initially, villages and towns were arranged in a linear pattern
linked to railways.

These settlements provided basic services for nearby farmers.

Larger towns developed around grain elevators; roughly every
third settlement along a railway was larger and provided more
diverse services than villages (e.g. a school or a medical clinic).

Each village was home to frequently used services (e.g. general

stores).

Grain Elevators
Note the conveyor belt connecting the elevator to the tops of the train cars (top left). Some
grain elevators in the Prairies have been abandoned (top right).

Rural Population Decline

Since 1940, the rural population in the Prairies has steadily
declined.

Why?
1. Farms became larger and more mechanized leading to a lower
population density.

2. Grain farms became more common.

There is no livestock on these types of farms thus minimal
staffing is necessary.
Owners of grain farms do not have to reside on their farm (they may visit only once a week or less to
tend to the farm).

Changes in Farming
While the number of farms has decreased over time in each province, the average size of farms
has increased in each province. Therefore, the overall land area used for farms has remained
consistent.

Declining Villages
Since 1940, the population of many villages has dramatically
declined.

Why?
1. Lower rural population density of rural areas leads to less

business for villages.

2. An increased use of trucks and cars as opposed to railways.

When new roads and highways were built, they tended to bypass
small villages.

3. Rationalization of road and rail systems.

Infrequently used transportation corridors were shut down.

Fewer villages resulted in a reduced need to maintain a dense

local transportation network leading to a cycle of change:

Decline in villages → closing local roads and rails Closing local

roads and rails → decline in villages

Sites of Growth
While small villages have declined, larger communities have seen
growth:

1. Dormitory towns (people live in the town but work in a nearby

large city).

2. Sites of government services (provincial capitals) 3. Resource

towns

The image shows a dormitory town (it is primarily residential with little industrial base).

Agriculture
Agriculture was the driving force behind the settlement and early
development of the Prairies.
Wheat has historically been the most valuable crop. Canola has
become increasingly common.

Higher prices for canola today have been triggered by the

increasing demand for ethanol as an alternative fuel for vehicles.

Agricultural Belts
Note that the area of the Dry Belt roughly corresponds to Palliser’s Triangle (Lesson 2-6).

Agricultural land in the Prairies is divided into the fertile belt, dry
belt, and agricultural fringe.

The major differences among these areas are the length of the
growing season and the amount of soil moisture.

In the agricultural fringe, the grain grown is of lower quality and

is used primarily to raise livestock.

The Fertile Belt

It has relatively high levels of soil moisture and an adequate
frost-free period.

Typical crops are canola, wheat, beans, peas, and sunflowers.

Mixed farming is common (crops mixed with beef and pork

production).

The Dry Belt

Cattle ranching is the typical land use. Wheat is the only crop that
can grow in this area.

The practice of continuous cropping is common.

continuous cropping: a practice where the stubble left after harvest is not removed; the stubble aids in

controlling weeds and reducing soil erosion

Irrigation is necessary due to the long periods of dry weather.

Irrigation (large sprinklers that pull water from the soil and then redistribute it) is shown on the
right.

Module 8: Prairie Provinces Lesson 8-3

Livestock Industry
Livestock processing is an important secondary sector industry in
the Prairies.

As with other resources, the main export market is the United

States.

Very large hog-slaughtering plants are located in Brandon, Red

Deer, and Lethbridge.

Oil Industry
The sedimentary rock underlying the western Prairies contains
valuable deposits of fossil fuels.

The price of oil increased significantly in the 1970s.

U.S. demand for oil and gas from Alberta increased at this time.

Technological advancements during this time created a method to

separate the oil from sand therefore allowing output to greatly
increase.

Vast amounts of oil that are mixed with sand is called bitumen.
Fort McMurray is the major oil production centre.

There is also minor production activity in southeastern

Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.

Oil sands are mixed with hot water and transported to processing
plants where large hydrocarbon molecules are broken into smaller
ones.
The product is then supplied to refineries through pipelines which
then process it into gasoline, diesel, and propane.

Environmental Issues
The oil industry faces the problem of what to do with the vast
quantity of waste products.

The water that is used in oil sand processing becomes toxic and
then cannot be released into local rivers or lakes.

The amount of toxic water is increasing daily and is stored in vast

tailing ponds.

Leakage from the ponds can affect groundwater or nearby surface

water, including the Athabasca River.

Regulations require oil companies to reclaim the tailing ponds

currently housing the toxic sludge.

New projects are underway to bury the sludge in deep pits and
cover it with layers of soil.

The extraction of oil sands and processing of oil presents several

environmental challenges to Alberta:
- release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
- scarred landscape

- nearly 2 billion litres of toxic sludge are deposited into tailing

ponds each day

Mining
Alberta contains coal deposits along the eastern slopes of the
Rocky Mountains.

Potash (used as a fertilizer) and uranium (used in nuclear power

plants) are mined in Saskatchewan.
Copper and nickel are mined in the Canadian Shield region of
Manitoba.

Thompson is a resource town economically based on a nickel

mine. The mine, railway link, and the town itself were all
developed in 1957.

The lifespan of the nickel mine in Thompson is no longer than 100 years. Therefore, when the
mine closes, the town will lose its economic base.

Forestry
Nearly 75% of the lumber production in the Prairies is located in
Alberta.

In Manitoba, The Pas is a resource town economically based on a

large pulp and paper mill.

Module 8: Prairie Provinces Lesson 8-4

Urbanization in the Prairies

The population has undergone a dramatic rural to urban shift
over the past 100 years.

Much of the population in the Prairies lives in one of the 5 largest

CMAs:
Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina

Other notable cities:

Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Brandon, Prince Albert,

Moose Jaw

Calgary

Winnipeg

Edmonton
Regina

Saskatoon

Urban Centres in the Prairies

Gateway Cities
Some cities in the central Prairies act as collection and
distribution points between the city and the hinterland to their
north.

The size of the gateway city often reflects the economic strength
and extent of the hinterland.

Examples:

Edmonton → Northern Alberta hinterland

Prince Albert → Northern Saskatchewan hinterland Thompson →
Northern Manitoba hinterland

The smaller size of Prince Albert and Thompson indicates lower

economic strength in their hinterlands.

Southern Alberta
The corridor from Edmonton to Calgary has become one of the
more densely populated areas in Canada.

Very high growth rates are evident in this area (over 40% in 15
years).

Red Deer is in the centre of the corridor.

Calgary
BP, Imperial Oil (Esso), and Shell each have headquarter
operations in Calgary.
The proximity to the Rocky Mountains and Banff supports a
tourist industry in the city.

The economy is greatly dependent on oil (unemployment rates in

Calgary are correlated to oil prices).

As oil prices are currently relatively low, the unemployment rate in Calgary is elevated. There
are several vacancies in downtown office buildings due to layoffs in the industry.

Edmonton
It is the northernmost metropolitan area in North America with
over 1 million people. The aurora borealis (northern lights) are
frequently visible there.

Along with being an oil production centre, it is an important

government centre (capital of Alberta).

The retail sector is driven by West Edmonton Mall, the largest

mall in North America.

At one time, West Edmonton Mall (right) was the largest mall in the world.

Winnipeg
The city was the historic gateway to the west.

At one point, all goods that were shipped to the Prairies from the
manufacturing core of Canada passed through Winnipeg.

In 1900, Winnipeg was the largest city in the Prairies.

I took these photos of major landmarks in Winnipeg. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights
is the only national museum located outside of the Ottawa area. The intersection of Portage
Street and Main Street is a focal point of downtown Winnipeg and is one of the most well-
known intersections in Canada.

It was a major centre for grain processing and was the

administrative and financial hub of the region.
The amount of grain shipped to Winnipeg decreased steadily as
the port of Vancouver grew larger.

Winnipeg remained the largest CMA in the Prairies until the

1970s.

The Red River and Flooding

The Red River flows from south to north through very flat land
with relatively impermeable chernozemic soil.

In Spring, a melting snowpack at the head of the river (in the

south) adds to the discharge.

At the same time, ice at the mouth of the river (in the north)
creates a damming effect.

Note that the river begins in North Dakota near Fargo and flows northward. The Red River
drainage basin is shown in the yellow colour. The Assiniboine River is one of the major
tributaries of the Red River.

I took these photos of flooding in Winnipeg when I was teaching at the University of Manitoba.
The Red River had flooded a downtown promenade (left image) and parts of the university
campus (right image).

The Red River Floodway

After frequent flooding events, the provincial government
invested in constructing the Red River Floodway in 1969.

It is an artificial waterway 48 km long designed to divert excess

water around the city.

It is estimated that the floodway has saved billions of dollars in

economic losses since it opened.

The flood gates are located at the south end of the city. When they are closed, the water is
forced to divert into the floodway east of the city. The water then rejoins the river north of the
city and eventually flows into Lake Winnipeg.