Has Canada Become a Post-Industrial Society?

Has Canada become a post-industrial society?

The society has been changing from era to era: from agricultural to industrial; and from industrial to post-industrial. The change from agricultural to industrial era was caused by the Industrial Revolution which had brought a new manufacturing process. Then, as “white-collar workers were beginning to outnumber blue-collar workers” (Krahn, Harvey 2008), the society is now experiencing the transition from the industrial era to the post-industrial era. Canada’s shift of work characteristics including types of work, attributes needed for work and conditions of work proves that it has evolved into the post-industrial society.

Previously, the industrial society was focused on the goods production with minimal skills and education requirements. The mass production of goods was the main idea of the industrial capitalism. This era had brought explosive increase in production; in Canada, by 1900, it ranked seventh in production output among the manufacturing countries of the world (Laxer 1989). However, this economic growth came with social problems. There was “no one in authority to regulate the factory owners or the rigorous demands they imposed on the factory workers” (Irelan, Jerry 2009) and its poor working conditions resulted in dangerous environment and fatalities. In 1927, there were 1,378 recorded fatalities from various industries such as transportation, construction, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and logging. These accidents of industrial society reflect the past of Canadian society rather than the present; today, Canada is in the post-industrial era.

Daniel Bell (1974) introduced the concept of post-industrial society which would be “information-led” and also that knowledge would take over the power that resides in the ownership of property. As the economy undergoes a transition from the goods production to services, knowledge workers has become more valuable. Richard Florida (2002) stated that “a super...