From the Atlantic to the Pacific : Canadian Expansion, 1867-1909

When Canada became a country in 1867, it included only four eastern provinces-Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. In the next few decades, however, the country would grow and expand quickly, stretching to take in land extending across the continent. By the beginning of the next century, Canada would touch the shores of three oceans. Growth did not always come easily, of course. Canada would deal with rebellions, the difficulties associated with building a transcontinental railway, and with the problem of how to attract settlers to the prairies.