Invention in Canada  This article outlines the history of Canadian technological invention. Technologies chosen for treatment here include, in rough order, transportation, communication, energy, materials, industry, public works, public services (health care), domestic/consumer and defence technologies. The terms chosen for the "age" described below are both literal and metaphorical. They describe the technology that dominated the period of time in question but are also representative of a large number of other technologies introduced during the same period. Also of note is the fact that the period of invention of a technology can begin modestly and can extend well beyond the "age" of its introduction. To maintain continuity, the complete treatment of an invention is dealt with in the context of its dominant "age". The first innovators and inventors in Canada were the native peoples who arrived 14,000 years ago. They innovated techniques to survive in a very new and mostly hostile environment. This involved new ways to obtain food, create clothing and travel across a huge territory. Notable inventions included the canoe, snowshoe, igloo and pemmican. The West Coast natives innovated construction techniques that included the use of heavy timber and eastern tribes developed sedentary agricultural techniques. The arrival of the Europeans provided a new impetus for innovation and invention. The first metal works, Les Forges de St. Maurice, developed metal products for colonial use. Along with the Royal Dockyards of 1666 and 1746 in Quebec City, they constituted the first groups of skilled industrial labourers working in teams to solve the problems related to the construction of complex structures. Techniques to improve fishing and the cutting and the transport of timber were refined. There were innovations in cultivation techniques to deal with the cold climate. This era ushered in experimentation with the design of steam powered locomotives and ships. It was via the paddle-powered steam boat that steam power was first introduced to Canada. The "Accommodation", a side-wheeler built entirely in Montreal by the Eagle Foundry and launched in 1809, was the first steamer to ply Canadian waters, making its maiden voyage from Montreal to Quebec that same year in 36 hours. The building of large wooden ocean-going sailing vessels became a hugely successful undertaking in the Maritimes in the latter half of the nineteenth century due to innovative construction techniques and designs. Sandford Fleming invented standard time. In 1844, in Nova Scotia, Charles Fenerty invented newsprint made from woodpulp and Abraham Gesner invented kerosene in Halifax in 1846.