Symptomatic of the age was this Moose Jaw Board of Trade display at the 1912 Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. The business elite served as enthusiastic "boosters" for the West, promising tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs willing to relocate to their city. Similarly, they sought to attract workers, but the motivation was to keep the labour market competitive rather than to make the workers rich.
Some Boards of Trade were even active in Great Britain. They promised high wages to persuade tradesmen to come to their cities but failed to inform them of the high cost of living and short work season. Organized labour eventually complained to federal immigration authorities and tried to counter the "boosters" advertising through their union contacts in the "Old Country." Immigration officials in Canada made some efforts to discourage the misrepresentation of working conditions but they were not particularly successful.
