Lesson 1 of 3 · 4 min read
After the Second World War, Canada saw record prosperity, new trade agreements, expanded social programs, and waves of immigrants and refugees.
The decades after the Second World War brought major changes to Canada's economy and society, along with the growth of social programs Canadians rely on today.
Postwar Canada enjoyed record prosperity. The restrictive trading policies of the Depression era gave way to new agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which later became the World Trade Organization (WTO). The discovery of oil in Alberta in 1947 began Canada's modern energy industry. By 1951, for the first time, a majority of Canadians could afford adequate food, shelter, and clothing. Between 1945 and 1970, Canada had one of the strongest economies among industrialized nations.
Canada's system of social supports developed gradually. Unemployment insurance — now called employment insurance — was introduced in 1940. Old Age Security was devised as early as 1927, and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans followed in 1965.
Over more than 50 years, Canada became a more flexible and open society. More people went on to secondary and post-secondary education, and more women entered the professional work force.
The vote was extended too. Most Canadians of Asian descent had once been denied it; in 1948 the last of them, Japanese Canadians, gained the right to vote, and Aboriginal people were granted the vote in 1960. Today every citizen 18 or older may vote.
By the 1960s, one-third of Canadians had origins that were neither British nor French, which gave new impetus to the idea of multiculturalism.
The Canada Health Act ensures common elements and a basic standard of health coverage, and the provinces and territories provide publicly funded education.
Postwar Canada also became a destination for people fleeing conflict and oppression. In 1956, Canada welcomed about 37,000 refugees who escaped Soviet tyranny in Hungary. After the Communist victory in Vietnam in 1975, Canada welcomed over 50,000 Vietnamese refugees.
The Cold War began when several liberated countries of eastern Europe came under a Communist bloc controlled by the Soviet Union. Canada joined other Western democracies to form NATO, a military alliance, and joined the United States in NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command.
Canada joined the United Nations and took part in the UN operation defending South Korea in the Korean War (1950–53), with 500 dead and 1,000 wounded. It has served in many UN peacekeeping missions, in places as varied as Egypt, Cyprus and Haiti, and in security operations in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.
Through the 1960s, French-Canadian culture flourished rapidly in Quebec during a period known as the Quiet Revolution, which fed a growing Quebec separation movement. Parliament responded by setting up the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1963, and the Official Languages Act of 1969 guaranteed both English and French as Canada's official languages. Canada helped found La Francophonie in 1970. Quebec voters rejected sovereignty in referendums held in 1980 and 1995, and in 1982 the Constitution was amended without Quebec's agreement.
Key facts
Postwar Canada enjoyed record prosperity, helped by trade treaties such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), now the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The discovery of oil in Alberta in 1947 began Canada's modern energy industry.
In 1951, for the first time, a majority of Canadians were able to afford adequate food, shelter, and clothing.
Between 1945 and 1970, Canada enjoyed one of the strongest economies among industrialized nations.
Unemployment insurance, now called employment insurance, was introduced by the federal government in 1940.
Old Age Security was devised as early as 1927, and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans followed in 1965.
Canada welcomed about 37,000 refugees who escaped Soviet tyranny in Hungary in 1956, and over 50,000 Vietnamese refugees after the Communist victory in 1975.
French-Canadian culture flourished rapidly in Quebec during the 1960s in a period known as the Quiet Revolution, which fed a Quebec separation movement; Parliament set up the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1963, and the Official Languages Act of 1969 guaranteed both English and French as official languages.
Canada helped found La Francophonie in 1970. Quebec lost referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and again in 1995, and the Constitution was amended in 1982 without Quebec's agreement.
Answer all 4 to mark this lesson done.
1. In what year was oil discovered in Alberta, beginning Canada's modern energy industry?
2. What trade treaty helped open up postwar trading policies, eventually becoming the World Trade Organization?
3. About how many refugees from Hungary did Canada welcome in 1956?
4. What was the Quiet Revolution?
HomelandCanada