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CNST 1130 Work in Canada

Using historical job ads to understand past work

Pick a southern Canadian region (ie, excluding the north) and a pre-1920 decade of interest.

Using digitized newspapers from your chosen time and place, locate at least 10 job ads. If you can’t find enough job adverts, supplement what you can find with newspaper articles or illustrations that speak to the theme of work. 

Draw upon insights from at least three high-quality sources, from the Langara Library, at least one of which should be an academic, peer-reviewed source.

Analyze the material, with a view to constructing a single unifying argument. Some suggestions to inform your analysis:

  • What is most notable, in you view, about work in this time and place?
  • What work is described?
  • Who is doing the work, and to what end?
  • How are they being paid, and how much? The Bank of Canada inflation calculator may help with this.