Canada Corn Act 1843

Origins

British passage of the Importation Act 1815 (55 Geo. 3. c. 26) – the Corn Law – impacted the market for Canadian grains by restricting their importation into Britain, despite the fact Canada was part of the British Empire.^[2]

Enactment

The 1843 act was enacted to provide some relief to grain farmers in Upper Canada, by reducing the duty of Canadian wheat imported into Britain to (a nominal) 1 shilling a quarter.^[3]

The reduced tariff led to increasingly profitable shipping through the St. Lawrence route.^[4] To attract business for shipping businesses in the United States, the American government responded by allowing Canadian grain bound for Britain to pass through the Erie Canal without import duties.^[5]

The act allowed for the importation to the UK of Canadian grain, be it processed or not. Accordingly, a trade sprang up in American grain, shipped to Canada for milling, and then on to the UK. This impetus caused a boom in the Canadian flour-milling industry.^[6]

Repeal

After a short time, the advantages to Canada of the Corn Act were undone when British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel moved Britain towards free trade. A shortage of food caused by the Great Famine of Ireland created the need for cheap imported grain,^[7] and the act was repealed in 1846.^[8]

This was seen at the time as a blow to Canada by abolition of the (effective) imperial preference the act had created;^[9] the impact of the repeal to grain exports in practice, in the later 1840s and 1850s,^[8] remains a subject of historical debate.^[1]