The French sociologist Jacques Ellul defined "la technique" as the totality of all rational methods in every field of human activity so that, for example, education, law, sports, propaganda, and the social sciences are all technologies in that sense.
In the Arctic, the Innu used stick frames covered with animal skins for shelter during the summer months, while they built houses made of snow or igloos during the harsh winter.
Because there was no knowledge of metalworking with the exception of some small items of jewelry made from copper, weapons such as swords and metal knives were not part of this early arsenal.
[2] The arrival of white explorers and colonists in the 16th century introduced those technologies popular in Europe at the time, such as iron making, the wheel, writing, paper, printing, books, newspapers, long range navigation, large ship construction, stone and brick and mortar construction, surgery, firearms, new crops, livestock, the knife fork and spoon, china plates and cups, cotton and linen cloth, horses and livestock.
The pen along with ink and paper made written communication possible and allowed private individuals, businessmen, the clergy and government officials to produce the documents essential for social, commercial, religious and political intercourse.
The War of American Independence seriously disrupted mail service in Canada but by 1783 peace had been restored and Hugh Finlay was appointed Post Master for the northern colonies in 1784.
Fire from a wood or oil fuel source was not new but the use of stone fireplaces and ovens along with metal pots and pans dramatically changed the nature of cooking.
Between the 1530s and 1626, Basque whalers (whaling) frequented the waters of Newfoundland and the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the Strait of Bell Isle to the mouth of the Saguenay River.
It is ironic that a phenomenon as fickle as fashion would be responsible for the economic development and exploration of half a continent, but such was the case with the fur trade in North America between 1650 and 1850.
The settlers who founded Port Royal in Acadia in 1605 drained coastal marshes with a system of dikes and grew vegetables, flax and wheat and raised livestock.
Loyalist women settling in Upper and Lower Canada grew flax and raised sheep for wool to make clothing, blankets and linen.
The first in New France was Robert Giffard, who arrived in Quebec City in 1627 and "practised" at Hôtel-Dieu, Canada's first hospital, a very modest four-room structure founded by the church.
However, in towns such as Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal and York (Toronto), these tasks became more difficult due to lack of space and the concentrated population, and the result was very unpleasant.
Ironically, in the Battle of Quebec, the French General Montcalm ordered his troops out of the ultra-modern stone-walled Citadel with its heavy defensive cannon and onto the adjacent Plains of Abraham where they were felled by a single volley of musket fire from the British line.
However, a means of conveyance was required serve small towns that found themselves short distances from "the end of the line" or beyond the reach of local public horse car service.
Oil discovery and development in the west dates from the early 20th century, with Imperial becoming a major player by 1914 at Turner Valley, Alberta and in 1920 at Norman Wells, NWT.
A market for Canadian wood developed in Britain where access to traditional sources of lumber for the construction of ships for the Royal Navy, as well as industrial structures, was blocked by Napoleon in 1806.
A number of large firms appeared as a result of this activity including, Cunard and Pollok, Gilmour and Co. in New Brunswick, William Price in Chicoutimi, Quebec and J.R.Booth in Ottawa.
Trees were so tall that springboards were wedged into notches cut into the trunk to serve as work platforms for two loggers using heavy double bit steel axes.
By about 1850 there were factories producing ploughs, mowers, reapers, seed drills, cutting boxes, fanning mills threshing machines and steam engines, established by entrepreneurs including the well known Massey family, Harris, Wisner, Cockshutt, Sawyer, Patterson, Verity and Wilkinson.
This led to the establishment of departments of public health across the country by the end of the century and provided an impetus to municipalities to supply clean water to their citizens as noted above.
Water distribution systems also became a feature of many Canadian cities during this period and their installation represented the most significant development in public health in Canada's history.
Companies such as Bell, Waterloo, Lobsinger, Hergott and Sawyer-Massey were soon shipping their large metal threshing machines and other types of equipment via the CPR to western farms.
The ore from that mine was found to contain nickel as well as copper and a technique known as the Orford process using nitrate cake (acid sodium sulphate) was developed to separate the metals.
Agriculture in that region had begun around the Red River Colony in 1812, based on French Canadian survey techniques for land division and Scottish farming practices.
Confederation spurred interest in western agriculture with the government of Canada subsequently purchasing Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870 and suppressing Metis resistance to eastern intervention with armed force that included the use of the Gatling gun in 1885.
Invented by William Otis in 1839, it was used widely in Canada, for the excavation of railway right-of-ways and the digging of basements and foundations for skyscrapers and domestic housing, in the late 19th century.
The first self-supporting steel framed skyscraper in Canada was the Robert Simpson Department Store at the corner of Yonge and Queen in Toronto with its six floors and electric elevators, built in 1895.
The construction of skyscrapers, grand hotels and other large buildings led to the development of central heating, an essential feature in Canada's cold climate.
In the earlier parts of Canada's history, the state often played a crucial role in the diffusion of these technologies, in some cases through a monopoly enterprise, in others with a private "partner".