In the meanwhile affairs at King's College had been almost at a standstill. Owing to the pressure of public opinion a modification of the charter had been made by the legislature in 1837, but the chief grievances had not been removed. Teaching was not actually begun until 1843, that is, not until after the two other colleges had been established. The agitation increased in volume and bitterness until in 1849 it effected a complete change in the con stitution of the university. The special privi leges accorded to members of the Church of England were abolished. From this time on the. University of Toronto, as it was now called, was non-sectarian. The immediate effect of this reorganization seemed at first disastrous. Within three years a charter had been granted to a new university in Toronto entirely under Anglican control. Trinity College began work early in 1852, and the university constituency was still further divided. In 1866 three more denominational colleges were opened in On tario, namely, Ottawa College (Roman Cath olic), which in this year was granted the power of conferring university degrees, and in 1889 became the University of Ottawa; Regiopolis College (Roman Catholic), at Kingston; and Albert College (Methodist Episcopal), at Belle ville. In 1878 Huron College, (Anglican) at Lon don became Western University, and in 1887 Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock Col lege were united under the corporate name of McMaster University with full university powers. Not all of these have survived, how ever. Regiopolis College closed its doors in 1869; and in 1884, in consequence of the union of the various branches of Methodism in Can ada, Albert College was incorporated in so far as its undergraduate work was concerned with Victoria College, and the name of the latter was changed to Victoria University.
The evils of the multiplication of small col leges brought about their own cure. The enor mous expansion of modern science imperatively demanded lame expenditures for both buildings and equipment, and none of the existing in stitutions was able adequately to meet the demand. It was natural therefore that an effort should be made to devise a plan by which the ruinous duplication of expensive apparatus and plant could be avoided. Accordingly in 1884 the Minister of Education called a meeting of the heads of the various colleges and uni versities of the province for the purpose of discussing ways and means to accomplish this end. The result of these deliberations was that an act was passed by the legislature in 1887 reorganizing the university in order to permit of the federation of the various institutions in volved. Queen's University, which at one time had seemed ready to accept the federation idea, finally decided to retain its independence at Kingston. The only Arts colleges, therefore, to carry out the scheme were Toronto and Victoria. The latter agreed to hold in abey ance its degree conferring power in all depart ments except Divinity, and in 1891 moved from Cobourg to Toronto. In 1903 Trinity College entered into federation and in 1907 Saint Michael's College (Roman Catholic) also began work as an Arts college of the University of Toronto.
The first 14 years of the 20th century were years of extraordinary expansion for Canadian universities. Queen's University had now a clear field in eastern Ontario and under the late Principal Grant became one of the great uni versities of the Dominion. The University of Toronto under the late President Loudon, and since 1907 under President R. A. (now Sir Robert) Falconer grew to be one of the largest universities in the British Empire. At the out break of the war, which swept it almost clean of men students, as it did most British univer sities, the enrolment stood at 4,428.
Western Provinces.— Higher education in Manitoba is of recent date. By act of legisla ture in 1877 the University of Manitoba was established, with the sole power of conferring degrees in arts, law and medicine in the prov ince; degrees in divinity may only be conferred by colleges affiliated with the university. In its early years the university was an examining and degree-conferring body only, all teaching being left to the affiliated colleges. Later, how ever, a grant of land was made by the provin cial government for the erection of a building for purposes of instruction in the departments of science and for a university library.
There are seven colleges affiliated with the University of Manitoba: Saint Boniface Col lege is a Roman Catholic institution and was established as a small school so early as 1818; Saint John's College (Church of England) was founded in 1866; Manitoba College (Presby terian) in 1871; Wesley College (Methodist) in 1888; Manitoba Medical College was affili ated in 1882; the College of Pharmacy in 1902; and the Agricultural College in 1907. All are in Winnipeg except Saint Boniface College, which remains at the town of Saint Boniface, where it was first established. The growth of the insti tution necessitated new buildings and a site was chosen at Tuxedo Park and buildings erected.
In 1903 an ordinance was passed to establish a university for the Northwest territories, which has developed into the University of Saskatche wan. The corner-stone of the first building was laid by Sir Wilfrid Laurier at Saskatoon in 1910 and the building opened for students in 1912. Emmanuel College, founded in 1879 at Prince Albert by Bishop McLean for the train ing of native helpers, and transferred in 1909 to Saskatoon, was the first of the affiliated col leges. A place of special prominence is given to agriculture at this university. A university for Alberta was founded at Edmonton and the first session opened in 1908. Since then per manent buildings have been erected, and various theological colleges and professional societies affiliated to the university. From 1899 to the opening at Vancouver in September 1915 of the University of British Columbia; the interests of higher education in that province were served by the McGill University College of Brit ish Columbia, an institution which had two branches, one at Vancouver and the other at Victoria, and both affiliated to the McGill Uni versity at Montreal.