Railways as an Engine of Economic Growth? Who Benefited from the Canadian Railway Boom, 1870-1910?

It is generally argues that the Canadian railway construction boom of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did little benefit to the Quebec economy. However, this paper argues that railways played a significant role in Quebec's economic growth through their impact upon rail-way related industry. It is also found that Quebec drew considerable more federal government subsidies for railway construction than did Ontario. The importance of railways to Canadian manufacturing growth is also assessed. My findings provide further evidence that generalizations from Fogel's classic study on rail-way related backward linkages in the United States can be misplaced and misleading