The great depression had a major impact on a large number of people in Canada, and it also affected Canada itself. In this essay, I will talk about the economic hardships suffered by Canada and Canadians during the great depression (1929-1939). Also, I will talk about the ways the Canadian Government sought to help Canadians during the Depression. Next, I will talk about if they were successful in doing so. Finally, I will talk about why they were not successful.
The economic hardships suffered by Canada were very drastic. The great depression largely affected the Canadian economies.There was a widespread drop in world commodity prices. The Prices dropped because of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff signed by U.S President to raise all duties and tariffs on items entering the U.S. Which Meant that less items were being shipped out and businesses were losing money. For example, by 1932 Canada's per capita gross domestic product fell 34.8 percent. To be more specific; the price of lumber dropped 32 percent from 1929 up until 1932. That is 10.6 percent per year. Moreover, With the result of the Smoot-hawley tariff act it did affect a large number of farmers in the West.
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A major problem that affected Canadians was the 1929 Stock Market Crash; which resulted in unemployment to raise very high very quickly. Therefore, Canadians not having Jobs resulted in Businesses losing money because not as many people had money to spend on products to buy for their homes. Furthermore, another economic hardship they suffered was the province income dropping by 90% in just 2 years; that forced 66% of the rural population on to relief. Moreover, the economic hardships that Canadians continued to suffer through were: Bread Lines, Soup Kitchens, Living off government granted funds. Therefore there were a lot of economic hardships that canadians suffered and changed the way we live our lives
The Great Depression was a terrible point in Canadian history, and for most of the world. It was a point in time where thousands of people lost their jobs, and even lost their homes because of the depressed economy. Business was booming in the early 1920s, but when companies tried to expand, and therefore issued stocks, the economy was thrown off. Some investors sold their stocks for high prices, and as a result, everyone else followed. With less of a demand, stock prices became fractions of what they used to be, and on October 29, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, followed by the Toronto and Montreal Stock exchanges. This collapse of the stock markets caused a depression like which the world had never seen before. It was
Economically, Canada was impacted immensely by WW2. WW2 changed the entire Canadian economy forever and for the good. Before the war, Canada had seen the roughest times. The Great Depression had put canadas economy into the worst shape and into $10 million of debt, everyone was unemployed and people were homeless. But this war sky rocketed canadas government when the men in the war neded supplies such as guns,cars,clothes and food to survive, so Canada manufactuered all these products that were to be sent to
In 1919, World War I had finally come to an end, leaving most of the world in a post war depression. However, in countries like Canada, the decade ahead would be filled with amazing growth and change in many ways. The 1920s were an exciting time in Canada because of the economic prosperity, technological, social and cultural revolutions and growing political responsibility and change in policy that country experienced. These economic, social and political changes really made the 1920s in Canada “roar”.
Canada is currently sitting at a population of over 30 million people and is ranked 11th in the world in terms of exports (Canada: Economic Freedom, 2017). The economy in the country seems to be thriving very well with many skilled workers and plenty of jobs for most individuals in the civilian labor force. For the most part, Canada has always done pretty well in terms of having a successful economy. Starting in the early 50s Canada was thriving primarily off of the waterways unlike today the country thrives off selling petroleum, cars, and other things other countries need and want. Although this shift from a farm based economy too much more industrialization did not happen until after the Great War, it wasn't until the 1920s until Canada
The Great Depression was one of the worst collapses in the history of the Canadian economy. Canadians endured years of misery and in the same manner, suffered through all the ineffective solutions that took place. Despite Prime Minister Bennett's multiple advances to bring the economy back to pace, most of the solutions Bennett acted upon caused more harm than good to the economy. Bennett's first solution was enrolling in Protective Tariffs, which not only sent more residents out of work but also reduced Canada’s trade with other countries. Secondly, Bennett's involvement in putting up relief camps bought hatred, from unemployed men, towards Bennett and his government. Thirdly, Bennett's final attempt was the New Deal, which ultimately led
Canada in the 1930s was in a state of economic depression and the people, notably living in the west, were finding it difficult to secure a source of income. R.B. Bennett was elected as Prime Minister by Canadians in 1930 on the basis that he would end unemployment, but by 1932 his government was seemingly overwhelmed by the persistence of the Depression and was becoming
Firstly, When Richard Bennet came into power, he created what is known Relief Camps. They were in place so that problems of transients would no become a bigger problem. These men who worked were given food, shelter, army style clothing and .25₡ per day also these camps were built deep in the wilderness, away from towns and cities. This plan by Richard Bennett backfired because the relief camp workers rebelled which cause the On-to-Ottawa Trek and these camps gave no hope for a better future also showed that Bennett could not solve the problem of the transient. Secondly, During the Great Depression, there was increasing unemployment rates in every province some higher than the others because of how much they invested in the stock market. Due to rising unemployment levels, people from different communities started to leave their communities for a job elsewhere like other communities which created the issue of transients. Living in Canada even worse because they brought in fear and danger of being robbed because they do not have anything. Thirdly, Many people during this time were encouraged to “Buy now and Pay later” basically buying everything on credit and pay it later. Because of this, many families found themselves hopelessly in debt through buying on credit. With interest payments, many products ended up costing far more than what it was worth. Life in Canada difficult because many were in debt and
After World War I ended in 1919, Canada had a small recession during the World war, but after the war, Canada had the fastest growing economy in the world. The 1920s had been a successful period of growth for Canada, with living standards improving remarkably. Then suddenly, in the late 1920s the economy took a sharp turn for the worse. The depression originated in the US, directly caused by the spark of the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, but quickly spread to almost every country in the world due to
The Great Depression also is known as the Dirty Thirties happened in the 1930s. It left Canada and the world in shock. Millions of Canadians were without jobs, and many became homeless. Countries across the world were affected by the Depression, such as the U.S.A. The USA was hit the hard which affected Canada. USA rely on Canada for fish and wheat when the U.S economy goes down Canada suffers. The U.S didn’t buy any more fish,wheat,minerals,pulp and paper from Canada. Many countries put high tariffs on goods,trading slowed down,people had to pay back their credit money they had borrowed from the government.Farmers were hit the hardest in Canada because if you could not pay for the land you would get evacuated. Droughts and grasshoppers infection started to happen which brought more suffering. Meat prices went up,some stores were closed down,Immigrant dropped 90% violence and crime went up. Men that didn’t have houses were sent to reliefs camps,the military setup 20 000 men to work sometimes works was useful,other times they would make work projects. They got 3 daily meals, work clothes,medical care, and 20 cents a day.The men would work 44 hours of cleaning brush,building roads,planting trees and constructing the public building.On April 1935, 500 men went on strike for better living conditions,more pay and fewer hours this has been just like the Winnipeg general strike. This depression made Canada what it is today,the economy is in better shape,people can find jobs and immigrants are taking over
The Canadian government was, for the most part, unsuccessful in its attempts to deal with the depression. Mackenzie King was the Prime Minister of Canada from 1926-1930 and re-elected in 1935-1948. Prime Minister King was unsuccessful in dealing with the depression in Canada. Richard Bennett was elected from 1930-1935 in response to King’s failed term. However, Prime Minister Bennett would only serve one term and would also prove to be unsuccessful in dealing with the depression in Canada. Throughout the depression years; there were a few policies that did help Canadian citizens but none went far enough to provide real relief from the severe conditions.
War on the home front was not a shaped many Canadian negatively in WWI. The Wartime Elections Act had an effect on Canadians politically. The great influenza affected Canada socially. Lastly, propaganda and victory bonds caused Canada to fall economically. Canada’s home front during WWI had a negative impact on the Canadian people politically, socially and economically.
The Great Depression overall had a great impact on Canada. Out all of the countries that went through the depression Canada was hit the hardest. Many people in Canada lost their jobs and homes and the unemployment rate went up rapidly. But Canada also benefitted from the depression today because they can look back and reflect in the faults that were made. Learning from the past makes us a stronger country and benefits us.
Highly indebted Canadians were not able to spend in the way that they used to and instead were spending their savings and disposable income trying to pay off their household debt. This lead to high unemployment due to the lack of demand for commodities and subsequently a depressed economy.
The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn that began in the fall of 1929 and did not end in many places until the Second World War. It was triggered in large part by a sudden crash of the American stock market on October 29, a day widely known as Black Tuesday. In Newfoundland and Labrador, a number of factors contributed to the country’s financial troubles. Spending during the First World War had resulted in a large national debt, as did the costs of maintaining the Newfoundland Railway. The government also borrowed heavily throughout the 1920s to meet its expenses and a post-war slump in world trade further exacerbated the situation. The crisis deepened following the Depression, forcing the country to almost default on its public
Canadian lives were hard back then like many other places. There wasn't really that much food for the canadians to eat which was really bad. There wasn't even enough houses for the canadians to live in. There wasn't really a lot of jobs so you mainly had to be a farmer. If not then you had to catch fish and animals which was a pain. For entertainment they had fests and they would play games. The foods they would eat was mainly Bizon and crops because that's what they really only had.