A deep exploration of the experience of work in Canada

Canada, A Working History describes the ways in which work has been performed in Canada from the pre-colonial period to the present day. Since the time of European colonization, the need to obtain and ensure a steady supply of workers to drive Canada's economic growth has been a key objective for policy-makers. This book argues that there are key themes found in the history of work in Canada that persist today.

Work is shaped by a wide array of influences including gender, race, ethnicity, geography, economics, and politics. It can be paid or unpaid, meaningful or alienating, and always essential. The work experience led people to form unions, aspire to management roles, pursue education, form professional associations, and seek self-employment. Work is also often in our cultural consciousness; it is pondered in song, lamented in literature, celebrated in film, and preserved for posterity in other forms of art. It has been driven by technological change, governed by laws, and has been the cause of disputes and the means by which people earn a living in Canada's capitalist economy.

Ennobling, rewarding, exhausting, and sometimes frustrating, work has helped define who we are as Canadians.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Dundurn Group
Published: 04/20/2021
ISBN: 9781459746022
Pages: 308
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.90d