Economic Downturn

While Victoria worked to keep pace with the changing world, so did Vancouver.  In 1886, three years after the Victoria Transfer Company was established, CPR named Vancouver as its new Western terminus.

Vancouver quickly started to become BCs largest city and leading port and throughout the 1890s Victoria’s economy started to shrink in comparison:

• “In 1890 Victoria’s exports were six times greater than Vancouver’s. By 1903, these positions were dramatically reversed, and Vancouver’s exports exceeded Victoria’s by a ratio of three to one.”

Economic recession was looming and workplace issues were on the rise.  The industrial revolution had created a divide between the upper and lower classes, with few citizens belonging to a middle class.  Social reform became a focus in an effort to provide better lives for all.