Hébert idealizes modern-world progress in all his urban landscapes. While many of his contemporaries (Maurice Cullen, for example) preferred Old Quebec or Old Montreal architecture, Hébert's theme was port activities and structures. He was fascinated by the world's first all-concrete grain warehouse that is seen in this painting. This type of contemporary architecture becomes synonymous with modernism. To Hébert, the simple, massive forms of the warehouses and factories symbolize new technologies and materials, and he interprets the port optimistically, seeing it as a place of progress and beauty.