Great Depression In Canada
Canada was hit hard by the Great Depression. The worldwide Great Depression that started in the United States in late 1929 quickly reached Canada. Between 1929 and 1939, the gross national product dropped 40% (compared to 37% in the US). Unemployment reached 27% at the depth of the Depression in 1933. Many businesses closed, as corporate profits of $398 million in 1929 turned into losses of $98 million as prices fell. Farmers in the Prairies were especially hard hit by the collapse of wheat prices. Despite the emergence of numerous radical parties, the government was run by the major parties and no large-scale experiments, such as the American New Deal were attempted. The Depression ended in 1939 as World War II began.
Read more about Great Depression In Canada: Economic Results, World Trade, Government Reaction, Recovery
Famous quotes containing the words depression and/or canada:
“The chief lesson of the Depression should never be forgotten. Even our liberty-loving American people will sacrifice their freedom and their democratic principles if their security and their very lives are threatened by another breakdown of our free enterprise system. We can no more afford another general depression than we can afford another total war, if democracy is to survive.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“Canadians look down on the United States and consider it Hell. They are right to do so. Canada is to the United States what, in Dante’s scheme, Limbo is to Hell.”
—Irving Layton (b. 1912)