Learning Goals: What were the effects of the Depression on Canadians? How
did governments in Canada respond to the Great Depression?
The Desperate Years: Making Ends Meet
Read pages 96-99 and 102 and complete the following:
1. What conditions caused the Depression to deepen on the Prairies?
Explain the impact.
After the Great Depression, the Prairies hit a disastrous drought that lasted almost eight
years. Millions of hectares of fertile topsoil dried up the drought, many families had to
abandon their land and struggled to find other jobs to run the family.
2. How were men impacted psychologically by high unemployment and
job loss? Why do you think men were impacted this way in the 1930s?
Unemployment tends to make people more emotionally unstable than they were
previous to unemployment, men were devastated they had families to feed and children
to look after but they could not afford the basic needs of their children, this caused
anger, depression and anxiety.
3. What was pogey and how did one qualify?
The pogey was a relief payment by the government sometimes in the form of vouchers
for food and other essentials. People had to wait in long lines and then publicly declare
financial failure, this was a humiliating experience.
4. What was “riding the rails”? What did this phenomenon tell us about
life in Canada during the Depression?
“Riding the Rails” refers to men travelled across the country by hopping on freight trains,
some rode on the top of the train or clung to the rods underneath the train. There was
no opportunity for jobs due to the depression so men were forced to travel elsewhere,
even though they had no money for travel.
5. How did minority groups fair during the Depression?
a. New Canadians: They were treated badly and were discriminated
since they competed for the same jobs, many were deported
b. Aboriginal People: they were given fewer relief funds, only 5-10 cents
and were forced to live on their reserves even though they had poor
living conditions.
c. Women: They were forced to leave jobs, married women were fired,
and were fired and jobless.
did governments in Canada respond to the Great Depression?
The Desperate Years: Making Ends Meet
Read pages 96-99 and 102 and complete the following:
1. What conditions caused the Depression to deepen on the Prairies?
Explain the impact.
After the Great Depression, the Prairies hit a disastrous drought that lasted almost eight
years. Millions of hectares of fertile topsoil dried up the drought, many families had to
abandon their land and struggled to find other jobs to run the family.
2. How were men impacted psychologically by high unemployment and
job loss? Why do you think men were impacted this way in the 1930s?
Unemployment tends to make people more emotionally unstable than they were
previous to unemployment, men were devastated they had families to feed and children
to look after but they could not afford the basic needs of their children, this caused
anger, depression and anxiety.
3. What was pogey and how did one qualify?
The pogey was a relief payment by the government sometimes in the form of vouchers
for food and other essentials. People had to wait in long lines and then publicly declare
financial failure, this was a humiliating experience.
4. What was “riding the rails”? What did this phenomenon tell us about
life in Canada during the Depression?
“Riding the Rails” refers to men travelled across the country by hopping on freight trains,
some rode on the top of the train or clung to the rods underneath the train. There was
no opportunity for jobs due to the depression so men were forced to travel elsewhere,
even though they had no money for travel.
5. How did minority groups fair during the Depression?
a. New Canadians: They were treated badly and were discriminated
since they competed for the same jobs, many were deported
b. Aboriginal People: they were given fewer relief funds, only 5-10 cents
and were forced to live on their reserves even though they had poor
living conditions.
c. Women: They were forced to leave jobs, married women were fired,
and were fired and jobless.
