Yes, Laurier's Era is not part of the Provincial Exam. So, why do we need to know something about it?

For starters, Laurier's Age provides a quick overview over the forces that shape Canada as it enters the 20th century.
What does this mean?

Canada changes from a predominantly agrarian society to an industrial society. As a result, Canada's contributions in World War I are still agriculturally based but are also based on the supply of important mineral resources and tools manufactured in industrial centers that are needed in the war. The fast pace of change has been the result of Laurier's population policies that saw the country prosper economically. The result was the development of a strong sense of confidence in the ability of Canada do become a great nation. This confidence becomes an important catalyst for the desire by many Canadians to fight overseas and use the war as a stepping stone towards nationhood.

Prosperity, however, was not spread out equally. Unequal distribution of resources, coupled with the need to overcome large distances, left some areas in Canada less developed or heading towards economic decline. This would lead later to the need to address regional disparities at the federal level and make arrangements by which the wealthier regions would have to share their wealth with the poorer regions.

Laurier's era is also an important time period to highlight serious differences between the French and Anglo-Canadians. These differences emerge when the relationship to Great Britain is examined and some people start to question close ties with the empire and the related commitment to provide military assistance. The Boer War is the beginning of such division and will lead to a slow but gradual attempt by French Canada to improve its position in the federation.

Finally, Laurier's era initiates tensions between central Canada and western Canada with its uneven distribution of the population. The west with its smaller population is not taken seriously as its voting power is diminished. Compounded with that is the fact that most migrants to the west are not of English or French origin and thus do not share the same cultural connections to central Canada. These facts will continue to further divide Canada. As the western population also tends to be more multicultural in origin, strong tendencies towards multiculturalism emerge. Taken together, Canada is seen as a nation dominated by mainly French, English, and southern European settlers in different parts of the country. The obvious racism that results becomes a strong element of division.

Given all these diverging elements, it is surprising that Canada continues to be one country to this day. What is it, then, that is the common glue binding all these parts together?