The populism that led to the formation of the Cooperative Commonwealth Confederation (CCF) was borne out of agrarian and labour populism, not just in cities. Labour populism saw strength in rural coal towns as well as mills in the cities. The CCF is the party that Tommy Douglas led to develop free health care at the provincial level and championed fairer labour conditions. 

It's fair to say that rural agrarian populism in western Canada, emboldened especially by perceived insularity from Ottawa, played a significant role in the formation of the CCF.