Editing Upper Canada (section)

====Timber====
{{main|Ottawa River timber trade}}

The Ottawa River timber trade resulted from Napoleon's 1806 [[Continental Blockade]] in Europe. The United Kingdom required a new source of timber for its navy and shipbuilding. Later the UK's application of gradually increasing preferential tariffs increased Canadian imports. The trade in squared timber lasted until the 1850s. The transportation of raw timber by means of [[Timber rafting|floating]] down the Ottawa River was proved possible in 1806 by [[Philemon Wright]].<ref>{{harvp|Woods|1980|p=89}}</ref> Squared timber would be assembled into [[timber rafting|large rafts]] which held living quarters for men on their six-week journey to [[Quebec City]], which had large exporting facilities and easy access to the Atlantic Ocean.

The timber trade was Upper and [[Lower Canada]]'s major industry in terms of employment and value of the product.<ref>{{harvp|Greening|1961|pp=111}}</ref> The largest supplier of square red and white pine to the British market was the [[Ottawa River]]<ref>{{harvp|Greening|1961|p=111}}</ref> and the [[Ottawa Valley]]. They had "rich [[red pine|red]] and [[eastern white pine|white pine]] forests."<ref>{{harvp|Bond|1984|p=43}}</ref> [[Bytown]] (later called [[Ottawa]]), was a major lumber and sawmill centre of Canada.<ref>{{harv|Mika|1982|p=121}}</ref>