Roaring 20’s Economy
Saskatchewan Wheat Board
Canada’s Growing Economy due to WWI
By Carrie Han, Karthik Pillai, Stefeni Higuchi, Sarfraz Ahmed
After World War One, Canada had gone through a great economic transformation
Canada rebuilding its economy
 After WWI, the city slumped
 Drought from 1919 to 1926 emptied many of the farms of southern Alberta, and
the coal industry began its slow decline after 1919.
 Canadian soldiers came home expecting to be regarded as heroes. Instead they
came home to unemployment, because the munitions factories and army supply
factories were shut down.
 Canada had to adjust from war economy to a peacetime economy.
 Unemployment was very high, and the government could not do very much
because they were still recovering from the economic losses due to the war.
 In the early 1920’s, Canadian workers began to form unions to help ensure
equality and job security
 Many strikes were staged all across the country in an effort to improve working
conditions.
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Roaring 20’s Economy
The roaring 20’s was traditionally viewed as an era of great economic prosperity
driven by the introduction of a wide array of new customer goods
Canada’s Growing Economy after WWI
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It took some time for the North American economy to convert from a wartime
economy to a peacetime economy.
Although unemployment was high after the war ended, by 1923, Canada’s
economy was once again on track and the economy bloomed
U.S. and Canadian economies rebounded as returning soldiers re-entered the
labour force and factories were retooled to produce customer goods
War-torn Europe
 Because of the war, Europe was still rebuilding itself
 Canadian farmers’ economy rose because their wheat was on high demand in war
torn Europe
 The United States during this time took an increasingly isolationist stance
 In Canada, an important economic transformation accelerated as Britain was
wholly supplanted by the U.S. as Canada’s main economic partner
US trade
 As described in “War-torn Europe” above, the U.S. became Canada’s leading
economic partner
 One of the biggest reasons for the pick up in Canada’s economy was increased
trade with the U.S.
 The US purchased most of Canada’s raw materials, and they set up branch plant
in Canada to produce American products
Mass Development/Production
 Economy boomed in the 20’s because mass development allowed for cheaper
prices of technology products
 Most of the devices had been developed before war, but had been unaffordable to
the majority.
o Automobile (e.g.—Ford Model T)
o Movie
o Radio
o Chemical industries
o Refrigerators
 Cars
o Before the war, cars were rare luxuries
o By 1920, cars were much cheaper because they were produced in mass
quantities.
o Cars had wide effects on the economy and society
 Gas stations
 motels
 Source industries were broadening
 With the introduction of all these new products, unemployment dropped and
people had money
Women in the Economy
 During the war, many of the women got jobs to support the economy, and most of
them retained their jobs throughout the 20’s—many of the clerical jobs went to
the women
 In Canada, one in five workers were women by the end of the decade.
Focus Question: How would the economy be different without the influence of WWI?
Would it be almost the same or would the changes be drastic? How did WWI affect
Canada’s economy in the aspect of Canada’s relationship with the U.S. and women in the
economy?
Reasons for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
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The dramatic collapse in wheat prices in 1920, just as Canada returned to the
private grain trade
Wheat prices dropped due to increased competition
Farmers were frustrated in their attempts to win a fair price for their wheat, so
they started to look at various marketing systems between 1900 and 1920
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
 The farmers of Union of Canada launched the Wheat Pool in 1924
 Helped farmers get a decent price on wheat
 Marketed the prairie wheat crop in export markets in accordance with world price
levels
Similar to the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB)
 The Canadian Wheat Board was formally known as the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
 The CWB was a temporary measure to market the country’s entire crop
 Help stabilize the price of wheat
 To deal with the uncertainty of the final value of wheat sold on behalf of the
producers, the CWB implemented a two-payment system: Producers were given an
initial, or part, payment when they delivered their wheat to elevators, and a final
payment after determining financial results of the sale of the 1919 wheat crop.
Focus Question: What do you think would have happened to Canadian farmers and the
Canadian if the federal government did not establish the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool?
For further information, go to the following links!
 http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3InvS4yKiw8j:olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/saskatche
wan100/researchpapers/WDM/Impact%2520of%2520WWI.pdf+saskatchewan+w
heat+board+world+war+one&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca
 http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/midlsoc/gr7/72info.html
 King Wheat—Saskatchewan Grain Elevator
http://www.civilization.ca/hist/phase2/mod2e.html
 Canadian Wheat Board History
http://www.savemycwb.ca/cwb_history.php
 Answers.com—Roaring 20’s
http://www.answers.com/topic/roaring-twenties
 Answers.com—Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
http://www.answers.com/Saskatchewan%20Wheat%20pool
 History in Pictures—Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/wheatpool/gallery.php