Grade 8 · Social Studies · Unit 3 of 15
Railway & the West
The CPR, the National Policy and settling the Prairies
What your child practises
Why Canada built the Canadian Pacific Railway, what the National Policy was, who built the railway, how the Prairies were opened to settlement and what that meant for Indigenous peoples, and early labour action such as the Toronto printers' strike of 1872.
Ontario Curriculum expectation: History A1.1, A1.3, A3.1, A3.6, A3.7, A3.8 · the National Policy, the construction of the CPR, settlement of the West, early labour action and the Industrial Revolution in Canada
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Why did the government put a tariff on imported goods in the National Policy?
- to make products cheaper everywhere
- to encourage people to buy Canadian-made products
- to pay for the war
- to stop factories
Show answer
to encourage people to buy Canadian-made products
Hint: Higher prices on imports helped Canadian manufacturers compete.
Question 2
What was the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), formed in 1873?
- a naval force
- a trade union
- a railway company
- a federal police force for the West
Show answer
a federal police force for the West
Hint: It was the early version of today's RCMP.
Question 3
What was the effect of the Toronto printers' strike of 1872?
- It made children work longer.
- It ended all printing.
- It made trade unions illegal.
- It brought attention to the nine-hour working day and helped lead to the legal recognition of trade unions.
Show answer
It brought attention to the nine-hour working day and helped lead to the legal recognition of trade unions.
Hint: The Trade Unions Act of 1872 followed the strike.
Question 4
Why did Canadian governments in the 1870s and 1880s want to fill the West with settlers?
- They feared the United States might expand into the unsettled lands.
- They did not want a railway.
- They wanted to give the land back to Britain.
- They had no interest in farming.
Show answer
They feared the United States might expand into the unsettled lands.
Hint: A settled West helped assert Canada's claim.
Question 5
The Industrial Revolution brought factories to Canadian cities. What was one effect?
- People stopped using machines.
- Fewer goods were made.
- More people moved to cities to work in factories.
- Cities got smaller.
Show answer
More people moved to cities to work in factories.
Hint: Urban centres grew as workers moved from farms.
Question 6
Put these events in order, earliest first.
- 🐎The North-West Mounted Police is formed (1873)
- 🏭The National Policy begins (1879)
- 🏔️British Columbia joins Canada (1871)
- 🚂The CPR is completed (1885)
Show answer
British Columbia joins Canada (1871) → The North-West Mounted Police is formed (1873) → The National Policy begins (1879) → The CPR is completed (1885)
Hint: BC joined in 1871, the NWMP formed in 1873, the National Policy began in 1879 and the CPR was completed in 1885.