A deep exploration of the experience of work in CanadaCanada, A Working History describes the ways in which work has been performed in Canada from the pre-colonial period to the present day. Work is shaped by a wide array of influences, including gender, class, race, ethnicity, geography, economics, and politics. It can be paid or unpaid, meaningful or alienating, but it is 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 Canadas capitalist economy.Ennobling, rewarding, exhausting, and sometimes frustrating, work has helped define who we are as Canadians.

Jason Russell has a Ph.D. in history from York University and is an associate professor at SUNY Empire State College in Buffalo, New York. He lives in London, Ontario.

IntroductionPART 1: EUROPEAN ARRIVAL TO CONFEDERATIONChapter 1: Before and After ColonizationChapter 2: SlaveryChapter 3: Early Work RegulationChapter 4: European Employers and North American WorkersChapter 5: European Conflicts and North American ConsequencesChapter 6: The War of 1812 and the United StatesChapter 7: The 1837 Rebellions, Responsible Government, and Worker ControlChapter 8: Domestic Work and Hard LabourChapter 9: Colonial LivingChapter 10: Professions, Institutions, and Work in Early CanadaPART II: CONFEDERATION TO THE 1930sChapter 12: Confederation to 1914Chapter 13: The First World WarChapter 15: The 1930s: Economic Turmoil and Social UnrestChapter 16: From Confederation to Global War PART III: THE SECOND WORLD WAR TO THE 1960sChapter 17: The 1940s: Once More into the BreachChapter 18: The 1950s: Full-Time Jobs, Consumer Culture, and Another Economic BoomChapter 19: The 1960s: Cultural, Political, and Economic ChangeChapter 20: The 1940s to the 1960s: A Golden Era PART IV: THE TUMULTUOUS 1970s AND 1980sChapter 21: Two Decades of Transformation: The Good and the BadChapter 22: The 1970s: Goodbye to the 1960sChapter 23: The 1980s: Almost Everything ChangesChapter 24: One Last Big Shift Before the 1990sPART V: THE ANXIOUS 1990s AND 2000sChapter 25: The 1990s: THe End of the PostSecond World WarChapter 26: The 2000s: A Few Winners and More Losers on the JobPART VI: WORKING IN THE 21st CENTURYChapter 27: Work in Canada in the Early 2020sChapter 28: Retirement in CanadaChapter 29: Will We Still Work?Chapter 30: Surveillance and ControlChapter 31: Coming ApartChapter 32: Coming TogetherLooking Back, Looking ForwardAcknowledgementsNotesIndexAbout the AuthorNotes