A Summary Of The Reliance After The Great Depression In Canada

2015

Simone Pantlitz-Charles

Econ 2420

[RELIANCE OF AMERICA]

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Effects of the Reliance on America During the Great Depression

After the Great War, a time of success and confidence rang throughout Canada. New discoveries and growing industries, especially manufacturing during the war, allowed Canada’s economy to hold it’s own on a global scale. It’s economy was beginning to flourish and Canada was moving out of the phases of being a protected infant economy and started to become a stable economic power.

After the war, there was an increase in demand by the Americans for Canada’s primary products, namely pulp and paper, minerals and wheat. By 1929, Canada had supplied large amounts of pulp and paper as the number of newspapers read after the war had increased dramatically . Pulp and paper became the largest investment in the primary resource industries. Canada became the main producer for this product and eighty per cent of the Canadian supply was exported to America. America also invested heavily in the mining industry for non-ferrous products. Mining became important in many provinces as American demand for these products increased and had grown to three hundred and seven million dollars by the late 1920’s . As the Canada-Britain economic relationship sharply declined- to less than twenty percent- the Canadian-American economic relationship continued to grow. Canada’s imports and exports to the United States became sixty-six percent and forty percent, respectively, causing America to play a vital role in the Canadian economy, by becoming an essential trading partner . It is evident that as the American economy grew and demand increased,

Canada’s demographic changed dramatically during this time. The population growth, or lack there of, reached an all time low during the 1930’s. According to the Canadian encyclopedia, Canada’s birthrate fell from 13.1 live births per 1,000 in 1930 to 9.7 by 1937. With unemployment being approximately 30% across the country, many people could not afford families, furthermore households were broken up as men left home to find work. Many men decided to abandon their wives and children causing an increase in single parent hood. Women were forced to transform from household caregivers, to the breadwinners of the family even to the point of extreme measures. In addition to the decline in birthrates, Canada also suffered a decrease in immigration. During 1929, immigration was 169 thousand and during the course of the Great depression, it fell to less than 12,000. The great depression caused a displacement of migrant workers and left more blue collar workers without jobs. In time of desperation white collared workers who were unemployed agreed to lower wages and took the place of immigrants. Due to the lack of employment amongst immigrants, they were forced to return to their home countries to be prevented from being a burden on the already strained Canadian economy. With increase in unemployment came the increase in crime. People could not afford much and so they resorted to stealing or