|
A New
World |
Prosperity |
World Role |
Newfoundland |
Korea | CCF &
Tommy | Immigration
During the war the demand for soldiers,
workers, administrators and anyone who could work,
pushed the economy to full employment or as close to it
as was possible. The demand for wartime supplies,
armaments, foodstuffs and almost any commodity had
reached a peak and after the war ended it was expected
that the reduction of demand might create a recession or
a return to the depression. With the economies and
industry of so many countries in ruins in 1945, the
demand for Canada's production goods not only did not
decline but in increased.
Canada's factories and
infrastructure had not suffered the bombing and
destruction of the war and continued grow in size and
capacity as the demand increased. Europe in particular
needed Canada's food and production to feed the
homeless, shelter the people and rebuild it's shattered
economy.
The issue however
began to revolve around the ability of the European
nations to pay for their purchases. By 1947 a crisis
point was reached as more and more credit was extended
to Europe which in effect brought in no immediate cash
while Canadians were buying U.S. consumer goods and
product as an unbridled pace. This outflow of cash to
the U.S. threatened to bankrupt the Canadian government
without some rebalancing of expenditures to the U.S. or
collection of money owed from European countries.
The Canadian government reactivated it's
wartime authority over the economy and restricted U.S.
product form coming into the country and the crisis was
averted after only a few months. The economy continued
its rapid growth as new industries were developed.
Alberta expanded its oil industry in 1947
when oil was discovered and Leduc 1 began production.
This spawned a whole set of secondary industries in the
province to supply the workers, additional exploration,
the building of refineries, the development of the
petrochemical industry and of course the building of the
infrastructure required to support the new businesses.
The second world war demanded the supply
of minerals and metals for war product. Canada through
government and U.S. investment expanded the mining
industry drastically and this growth continued after the
war and well into the 60's. Nickel, zinc, copper, iron,
silver and gold were all found in relative abundance
across the Canadian shield and in many places in British
Columbia. Canada became a major producer of Uranium
which was required for the building of atomic bombs.
Salt Rock, coal and lead/zinc production boomed in the
Maritimes and potash from Saskatchewan all added to the
export revenue of the country. Labrador and Quebec
developed one of the largest iron industries in the
world in the Ungava region.
The prairies wheat
production was being shipped all over the world and due
to better agricultural practices, improved grain strains
and much more stable markets and prices, provided steady
growth across western Canada.
The post war years were a golden time in
the Canadian economy and huge amounts of investment from
the U.S. were able to fund the development of many of
these industries. The boom was to last 20 years before
cracks in the growth and other issues began to effect
Canadian prosperity, but that was in the future.
|
