Canada as a Post-Industrial Country
Canada’s practices of work and work values have been evolving throughout history. From the early days when agriculture dominated the economy, to the gradual transition into manufacturing and processing, we can see that Canada’s economy is always changing. More recently, we are seeing a similar shift from manufacturing to the service sector of the economy. This paper provides an analysis of Canadian society and whether we can be considered a post-industrial country. A society tends to be classified according to the degree to which different groups within that society have unequal access to rewards such as resources, status, or power. Although humans have established many types of societies over time, I will focus on defining two main categories including industrial and post-industrial society. Industrial societies are driven by the use of machines and factories to enable mass production. They are generally characterized by the use of external energy sources to increase the rate and scale of production. Industrialization brought about changes in almost every aspect of society. As factories became the center of work, urbanization became desirable and large cities emerged. Wage work and job specialization allowed more efficient means to manufacture goods, but also lead to a more complex division of labour. Post-industrial societies are based on information, knowledge, and the selling of services. This society develops at a stage when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy. With this shift in economy comes many changes including the decline of blue-collar labour being replaced by white-collar professionals. Rather than being driven by the factory production of goods, society is being defined by the human mind, supported by computer technology. Although factories will always exist,