How Did The Great Depression Affect The Economy In Canada

The Great Depression was one of the lowest economic struggles in Canadian history. Throughout this tough time period banks started failing and shutting down. Businesses shut down as well because they were going bankrupt. Additionally the drought that hit in the mid 1930’s caused many people to lose their lives or flee the country. The Great Depression was caused by many social, economic and environmental issues. The biggest issue was the downturn in businesses, with the economy already being at a low because of the stock market crash taking place. The Great Depression started with the major stock market crash that first took place on October 24th, 1929. This crash was not as major as the ones that were to follow because the stockholders were

In 1930 alone over 3000 banks collapsed and by the end of 1930 over 9000 banks failed. This was because so many stocks and investments had been traded and lost during 1929. Many people also went into a panic about their money so they started taking what was left of their money out of their banks since they did not want to lose that money. This was commonly known as a run on the bank. After the banks started shutting down many businesses went bankrupt, which led to thousands of unemployed people. “By 1932, one out of every four workers in the United States was unemployed.” During this time the unemployment rate went above twenty five percent. Compare that to the current unemployment rate of approximately six percent helps to understand the magnitude of this unemployment. The people that were able to keep their job were paid a very small amount of money. This is evident when James E. Faust, a man who lived through the depression said “As a young man, I lived through the Great Depression, when banks failed and so many lost their jobs and homes and went hungry. I was fortunate to have a job at a canning factory that paid 25 cents an hour.” The government created relief to help all of those who were becoming unemployed or did not make enough money to keep themselves and their family healthy. The families that took part in relief were given either a small amount of money