Section L: Lands and Forests

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Brian S. Osborne, Queen's University

Lands (Series L1-106)
Forests (Series L107-210)

This section is concerned with those statistics referring to the allocation of lands and the production of forests. To some extent, these two questions are compatible only in that they have fallen under the same administrative unit for the purposes of management and data collection. They continue together in this volume as a matter of convenience. The data relating to land refer to the allocation of lands for settlement, production and recreation, and are, wherever possible, reported at both the national and provincial level. Those data relating to forests are concerned with primary products, the manufacturing of lumber, pulp and paper, and exports. Sources, together with problems or qualifications associated with them, are identified in each table by footnotes.

The main concern of this volume has been to update the statistics to 1975 and, because of limitations of time or space, it is regretted that a more comprehensive review of the statistics could not be effected. In particular, the provision of statistics for earlier periods of land patenting for Ontario and Quebec and for the forest products in general was not attempted. Again, the reporting of some of the sets of data at the provincial level, particularly those referring to forest products, would have been desirable. Finally, the restructuring of certain themes to address new questions was not attempted. Such refinements remain as possible directions for future improvements of the work presented here.

It must be emphasized, therefore, that the revision attempted in this volume can only be advanced as an extension of the work performed by G.K. Goudrey in the original volume of the Historical Statistics of Canada. Structure, sources and research form the background of this section. Anyone wishing a fuller appreciation of the organization and collection of these data should, therefore, consult the extensive text which accompanies the earlier volume.

The data in this section are divided into two parts. Series Ll-106 contain statistics on lands, including total areas, public parks, sales, grants and alienation of public lands, and receipts from sales and for the use of public lands. Series L107-210 contain statistics on forests, including data on production and exports of primary and secondary products, forest fires, and forestry revenues and expenditures of provinces.

The citations for sources of data up to and including the year 1959, are not repeated in the present edition. It is therefore necessary for the reader to consult the first edition of this volume. The original volume should be consulted also for detailed notes and comments on each table prior to 1959. The sources for the updates from 1959 to 1975 are given below.

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Lands (Series L1-106)

Source: Statistics Canada, Canada Year Book, 1976-77, p. 32.

There have been no changes in land areas since Newfoundland entered Confederation in 1949. For convenience, the following table of land and water areas by province is provided. Primary sources are discussed in the original volume.

1.1 Approximate land and freshwater areas, by province

Province or territory	Land sq miles	Freshwater sq miles	Total sq miles	Percentage of total area
Newfoundland	143,045	13,140	156,185	4.1
Island of Newfoundland	41,164	2,195	43,359	1.1
Labrador	101,881	10,945	112,826	3.0
Prince Edward Island	2,184	-	2,184	0.1
Nova Scotia	20,402	1,023	21,425	0.6
New Brunswick	27,835	519	28,354	0.7
Quebec	523,860	71,000	594,860	15.4
Ontario	344,092	68,490	412,582	10.7
Manitoba	211,775	39,225	251,000	6.5
Saskatchewan	220,182	31,518	251,700	6.5
Alberta	248,800	6,485	255,285	6.6
British Columbia	359,279	6,976	366,255	9.5
Yukon Territory	205,346	1,730	207,076	5.4
Northwest Territories	1,253,438	51,465	1,304,903	33.9
Franklin	541,753	7,500	549,253	14.3
Keewatin	218,460	9,700	228,160	5.9
Mackenzie	493,225	34,265	527,490	13.7
Canada	3,560,238	291,571	3,851,809	100.0

Source: Statistics Canada, Canada Year Book, 1975, p. 43 and previous issues.

Source: Annual Reports of provincial departments of lands and forests; A Statistical Reference of Lands and Forests Administration, 1966, Operations Branch, Department of Lands and Forests, Ontario; Government of Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs, Northern Environment Branch.

The following definition is taken from the first edition of this volume. "The term 'patented' is used to mean that a deed bearing title to land has been drawn up by the Crown agency concerned, that is the federal or a provincial government, for Crown land that had not previously transferred into private hands and that this deed is then transferred to a private party. Acreage patented therefore is a measure of the amount of Crown land that is alienated from the Crown for the first time."

It should be noted that "Until 1936, the areas patented by the Dominion government have been distributed here among the provinces."

After 1936, the amounts sold by Canada became very small and diminished to zero by 1961. (See footnote 3 to series L13, and text of original edition.) Thus the sale of lands became entirely a provincial matter. For Indian lands however, see series L73-74. The federal government continues to have land sales in the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories.

Source: Annual Reports of Alberta Department of Lands and Forests, 1960 to 1975, and original edition of this volume.

Source: same as series L14-29.

These series terminate in 1931, but are repeated here for convenience. See notes in original edition.

See note to series L34-41.

These series are a continuation, to 1975, of series L42-45, but with additional detail.

These series terminate in 1931, but are repeated here for convenience. See notes in original edition.

Source: Annual Reports, 1960 to 1971, Ontario Department of Lands and Forests.

See also explanatory note in first edition.

Source: Annual Reports, Government of Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa.

The values shown here from 1957 to 1966 are fees and royalties for rights of way, leases, permits and mineral rights, for which the receipts were credited to the Indian bands, on capital accounts. There have been no such sales on behalf of the bands, by the department, since the policy was changed in the late sixties. See also note to series K73-74 in original volume.

These series terminate in 1930, but are repeated here for convenience. See notes in original edition.

Correspondence with the above companies suggests that these should be regarded as terminated series. The Hudson's Bay Company had no land sales after 1960. The original table is reproduced here.

These series terminate in 1931, but are repeated here for convenience. See notes in original edition.

Forests (Series L107-210)

General note

The principal statistics of woods operations were affected by the 1961 revision of the Standard Industrial Classification, (S.I.C., including the new definition of establishments and the distinction between logging activity and total activity. For a complete description of these changes, see the general note to Section R, Manufactures. In the following tables of principal statistics, the historical series from the original volume have been updated to 1964, while the newer series have been shown in a separate table, from 1963 to 1975. Thus, a two-year overlap is provided between the old and new series.

The series on commodity production and exports were affected by changes in units of measure, such as the change from board feet to cubic feet in the case of logs and bolts and the change from thousand cubic feet to cunits (one hundred cubic feet) in the case of pulpwood. However, the former series were converted to the newer units in the following tables. The commodity series are regarded as being reasonably continuous, despite the above change in the S.I.C.

The main source of the following series is Statistics Canada, Canadian Forestry Statistics Revised, 1974, (Catalogue 25-505), which contains several historical tables on the new definitions. In addition, the annual publications of Canadian Forestry Statistics, (Catalogue 25-202), were used.

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Forestry Statistics, (Catalogue 25-202).

A 'cunit' is defined as one hundred cubic feet. The other units of measurement used in the table are self explanatory. 'Pulpwood' in series L109 is distinguished from 'woodpulp' in series L168 in that it has not yet been processed into a pulp sulphite or sulphate. 'Pulpwood' is an earlier product of woods operations rather than pulp and paper mills.

The above two tables contain a two-year overlap, 1963 and 1964, between the former series and the newer ones, as explained in the General note to series L107-210.

Source: same as series L107-118.

The two tables above provide a three-year overlap for the period 1957 to 1959, to bridge the changes brought in by the 1961 revision of the S.I.C.

Source: same as series L107-118.

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Forestry Statistics, (Catalogue 25-202), for production and exports; Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, for capacity.

The two tables above constitute a unit, with a single year of overlap for the year 1959. The pulp and paper industry is a part of the larger group, paper and allied industries, which is shown in the Manufactures Section (Series R309-325).

Source: Statistics Canada, Canada Year Book, 1976-77, and previous issues.

The remaining series in the first edition are terminated series and are not reproduced here for reasons of economy and space.

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