How Did The Great Depression Affect Canada

The conservatives introduced the unemployment relief act, giving the provinces $20 million for work-creation programs. This, however, did not aid economy much. Also, Bennett tried to raise tariffs in order to protect Canadian industries and get into the world market. He raised the tariffs by an average of more than 50 percent, which did protect some businesses, but it actually caused more harm than good. These tariffs made other nations set up trade barriers against Canada. He introduced the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act in 1935, which helped farmers build irrigation systems and reservoirs, but by this time, because of drought, poverty, and locusts, most families had already left their farms to go to other places. Finally, he created a national network of work camps for unemployed single men who needed work and shelter. These work camps allowed men to work for them (roads, clearing land, digging ditches, etc) for a pay of 20 cents a day. They were also given a place to stay and food to eat, but the food was terrible and the bunks were often bug infested. In spite of these conditions, 170 000 men spent time in these camps, which reflects the desperation that some of these people had.i

The Great Depression was a very influential era in American history, affecting many future generations. One of the most prevalent impacts it had on society was the extreme poverty that swept across the nation, affecting both people in cities and in the country. The main cause for this poverty was the mass loss of jobs among the middle class. Millions lost their jobs and consequently their homes. Families lived out of tents and cars in shanty towns or Hoovervilles. In these camps, many people didn’t have their basic human needs met, children and adults alike starved. They lived in clothes that were caked in dirt and tattered, too small for growing children and too cold for the frail elderly. Government relief programs attempted to help but offered little support to the now impoverished families of the millions that lost everything.

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

Most say the onset of the Great Depression was spurred on by the stock market crash. Although economists don’t think that it was the only reason for Canada being in such a terrible state. In the 20s, people had, in their spending frenzy, bought large quantities of stock though credit, stock that they could not afford. People owed money to businesses and banks, and accumulated debts that they couldn’t pay off. In 1929, when it came time to pay, they didn’t have the money, and profits dropped drastically. The values of the stock became completely worthless. With no money and no jobs, people had to leave their homes either because they couldn’t pay for them, or they moved to search for a job.

The depression years of 1929 - 1939 proved to be the worst, and some of the best years for Canada and Canadians. It was a time of extreme highs and lows socially, emotionally, and economically. It was a time that Canada came into her own being on the world wide stage.

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

The Great Depression of the 1930's is a benchmark for all depressions and recessions in the past and in the future. In the booklet "The Great Depression of the 1930s in Canada" , Michiel Horn gives an intellectual dissection of the events that occurred during the Great Depression. Michiel Horn's approach leaves the reader with a foul taste for the Dirty Thirties. This essay will summarize Michiel Horns key points as well as discuss the ability of Michiel Horn to report his findings.

The Great Depression was not just a little event in history, hence the word “great”, but a major economical setback that would change Canada, and the world, forever. The word “great” may not mean the same thing it does now; an example of this is the ‘Great’ War. These events were not ‘good’ or ‘accomplishing’ in any way, quite the opposite, but in those times it most likely meant ‘big’. What made it big are many factors, both in the 20’s and 30’s, which can be categorized into three main points: economics, politics and society. With all these events, compressed into ten years, this period of economic hardship of the 1930’s truly deserves the title the “Great Depression”.

Intro: Following the crash of the US market on October 29, 1929. Unemployment rates peaked in 1933 (500,000) which was twice of what it was in 1921. 1 in 5 people were unemployed. The great depression was devastating for Canada due to it dependency on farming natural resources. For example, Saskatchewan experienced record low prices in record history. Provincial income went down 90% within two years. This caused Canada to become an unjust society due to its actions during the depression; it’s treatment of Jewish refugees, and its detainment of Japanese Canadians.

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 Great Depression was a time of great economic tragedy during the 1930’s. October 24, 1929 was the day of the stock market crash, causing economical shortage everywhere, even globally, and this scared everyone, including the rich. This day was/ is known as “Black Thursday”, where over 2.9 million shares were traded. On “Black Tuesday”, five days later, more than 16 million more shares were traded in another wave of panic. Many investors then lost confidence in their banks and demanded deposits in cash which forced the banks to liquidate loans in order to supplement their on hand cash reserves. By 1933, around 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. This stopped Americans from purchasing which then led to less production of goods and decreased the amount of needed human labor. In the end, millions of shares ended up worthless, and those investors who had bought stocks with borrowed money were wiped out completely.

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.

I think the most important cause of the Great Depression was Canada’s dependence on its primary products. Canada’s economy heavily relied on staples, products such as wheat, fish, minerals, pulp, and paper. These were Canada’s most significant imports because these were the goods that the world needed the most. The more countries that needed these products, the more Canada’s economy would flourish. However, the war caused a lot of countries to be in debt which meant that they didn’t have enough money to buy goods from Canadians. In turn, Canada’s economy collapsed and many people faced hardships in Canada, especially those in the Maritimes. The Depression caused the prices of Canada’s goods to drop drastically and farmers couldn’t make enough

However, the stock market crash could not be to blame for the beginning of the Great Depression. In fact, "the crash actually revealed underlying problems that led to the Great Depression" (Schultz, 2006). Thus, the fact that farms had been struggling for years, overspending of the country forced people into debt, and the banking system itself was unstable. These prevalent issues at the time of economic struggle is what forced Canada into a Depression that they would never

“Shrunken perhaps by the vicissitudes and exigencies of the times, Broadway presented itself admirably throughout the Thirties. It not only managed to preserve the best, but also nurtured and expanded them. At the brink of the new decade, Broadway stood smaller but brighter”