The National Policy's aim to unify the Canadian economy through tariffs and settlement was intended to achieve which outcome?

• A. Expand foreign dependence
• B. Create mutual prosperity across provinces
• C. Limit immigration
• D. Centralize power in Ontario

Answer: (D)

The National Policy aimed to knit Canada into a single economic unit under a strong national government. Tariffs protected domestic industries, creating a unified internal market so Canadians producers across provinces could grow together rather than compete with foreign manufacturers. Settlement of the West expanded the market and political support for national infrastructure, like a transcontinental railway, which further centralized economic planning and governance in the federal level. In this sense, the intended outcome is to strengthen federal authority and centralize economic decision-making in Ottawa, the national capital. The other options don’t fit: tariffs were meant to reduce dependence on foreign goods, not expand it; settlement policies promoted immigration to grow a national market, not limit it; and the emphasis was on centralized federal power rather than provincial control, so framing it as centralizing power in Ontario as a province is too narrow.