The 1930s was a bleak time period for Canada. The Great Depression had a devastating impact on the country, spreading across the provinces and bringing hardship to big cities and towns alike. No social, racial, or economic class was excluded. Farmers, bankers, bricklayers, clergymen, and autoworkers were affected indiscriminately. Between the years 1929 and 1939, many banks and businesses all over the world collapsed. Millions of people, including thousands of Canadians, lost their life savings, their jobs, and much of what they owned. Canadians suffered many hardships during the the Great Depression; yet despite this found unique ways to survive.
Canadians suffered many hardships during the Great Depression. When our economy crashed, they …show more content…
A few of these would be welfare, relief camps, and entertainment. To begin, welfare was something that the government came up with in an attempt to help Canadians to survive. They would provide citizens for vouchers for food, transportation, and other needs. Though they were a good idea, there wasn’t enough welfare for everyone and it was barely enough to live off of, and the people who applied for welfare were very desperate. Similar to the discrimination against the unemployed, the people who applied were looked down upon by others. If you were going to a soup kitchen to get your meals, you had to deal with not only the discrimination but also the low quality of the food that you were served. Here is a quote from a man that ate at soup kitchens during the Great Depression, “ My two meals at the soup kitchen were a tin plate of white beans boiled in water only, two slices of dry bread, and a mug of tea or coffee maybe, it was hard to tell.” (Mennil, 1978, p-32). As you can tell from the quote, the soup kitchens were very bland, and people on welfare still were just barely scraping by. Another way that Canadians survived during the Depression was by attending relief camps. This only applied to single, unemployed men. These relief camps were set up by the government, and were awful to live in. The rules were extremely strict, and the work was very hard. The men were given shelter and food,
Canadians suffered many hardships during the Great Depression. When our economy crashed, they …show more content…
A few of these would be welfare, relief camps, and entertainment. To begin, welfare was something that the government came up with in an attempt to help Canadians to survive. They would provide citizens for vouchers for food, transportation, and other needs. Though they were a good idea, there wasn’t enough welfare for everyone and it was barely enough to live off of, and the people who applied for welfare were very desperate. Similar to the discrimination against the unemployed, the people who applied were looked down upon by others. If you were going to a soup kitchen to get your meals, you had to deal with not only the discrimination but also the low quality of the food that you were served. Here is a quote from a man that ate at soup kitchens during the Great Depression, “ My two meals at the soup kitchen were a tin plate of white beans boiled in water only, two slices of dry bread, and a mug of tea or coffee maybe, it was hard to tell.” (Mennil, 1978, p-32). As you can tell from the quote, the soup kitchens were very bland, and people on welfare still were just barely scraping by. Another way that Canadians survived during the Depression was by attending relief camps. This only applied to single, unemployed men. These relief camps were set up by the government, and were awful to live in. The rules were extremely strict, and the work was very hard. The men were given shelter and food,