Canada West's population grew rapidly because of immigrants that came from England, Scotland, Ireland and the United States. Many newcomers cleared the forests, cut lumber and worked the rich farmland of the area. The good farmland were running out, so the population were forced to look further west. despite economic hard times and the worldwide depression of the late 1840s, Canada West developed and generally prospered due to rising population, increasing transportation links and, because of the Reciprocity treaty that was created in 1854, with the US, which opened up huge, markets for Canadian grain, lumber, fruit, textiles and
