The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a period, which seemed to go out of control. The crashing of the stock markets left most Canadians unemployed and in debt, prairie farmers suffered immensely with the inability to produce valuable crops, and the Canadian Government and World War II became influential factors in the ending of the Great Depression.
The 1920’s meant prosperity for Canada. Canadians living in the 1920’s were freer in values, less disciplined, and concerned with material things more than ever before. Many people wanted to get rich quickly, and stock markets in New York, Toronto, and Montreal shot up. On October 24, 1929, many people wanted to sell stocks through the New York Stock Exchange. More stocks were being sold than bought, and they began to slump. The stock crash became known as the Great Crash of 1929. On Thursday October 29, 1929, the stock markets in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec also began a steep descent. Suicide became common among men whom the crash meant financial failure and social ruin. After the stock crash a period of Depression occurred and unemployment was common. By 1933, one out of every four workers in Canada was without a job. Men begged for jobs cutting grass or shoveling snow. Wages were so low that even people with jobs ran into debt. Many businessmen went bankrupt and people all over the country were laid off. Many men disappeared in efforts to look for work. The province of Saskatchewan set up Relief Commission in 1931. For many, the acceptance of Relief meant failure. Those who did except Relief received $5.00 a week, or sometimes less. By 1932, many unemployed men were living in Relief Camps across the country. Work in the Relief Camps usually consisted of meaningless tasks. The camps provided its men with a poor diet and bunks to sleep in. Those living outside of Relief Camps could barely feed their families. Meals consisted of starchy foods such as bread and potatoes. With unemployment rates soaring, many people could not afford coal to heat their homes or to pay electricity bills. Single men, 18 years or older, were housed in rooming houses. In 1933, the Federal Government began herding single men into work camps run by the army. Camps held more than 115, 000 men over a four year period. Men in camps were paid twenty cents a day for lumbering or road building. All over Canada peopl...

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...rnment became active in the lives of businessmen and workers alike. Mothers received a family allowance. War veterans received money also. Unemployment insurance was created and any man out of work could apply for it. By 1936 some parts of Canada began to recover from the Great Depression. In Montreal Public Holding Projects were underway, and the Trans Canada Airway gave jobs to men. For Canada, the real end of the Great Depression was caused by the start of World War II. The Great Depression lasted ten years and was followed by five years of World War. During the war the need for materials was massive. Chemical factories, aluminum works, and lumber processing all began to employ men. People could begin to buy more than they had during the Great Depression; therefore the manufactures could produce more. Prairie Provinces also benefited because the markets for wheat had began to recover.
The Great Depression in Canada posed many problems for Canadians. During this period the economy suffered, unemployment rates raised, and farmers struggled through the drought of the Dirty Thirties. The Great Depression truly was an uncontrollable force assisting the shape of present day Canada.