Working
War industries in Manitoba
This government publication featured success stories of Manitoba manufacturing, including Winnipeg's MacDonald Brothers Aircraft Limited, which assembled Avro Anson twin-engined aircraft to be used in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
Telephones at war
This bi-monthly magazine included features on air raid precautions in telephone exchanges, operators training in rifle skills, employees in uniform, and fund-raising and charitable activities.
Profiteers and frauds
To embarrass the Conservative government, the Liberal Party released this pamphlet alleging profiteering, kickbacks, and fraud in the manufacture and supply of munitions for Canada's war effort.
Serving the wartime economy
Charles McGrath was in charge of Canada's fuel supply during the First World War, and in this speech he discussed various ways in which Canadians could serve the war economy.
Manitoba Calling
The monthly magazine of Manitoba's government-run radio network was always full of wartime material: letters from staff members on active service, stories of fund-raising efforts, features on the BBC's reportage from the front, the work of the Canadian Red Cross and other voluntary organizations, and human interest stories covering different aspects of the war effort.
Canadian Federal Finance
This booklet, in many ways a response to an earlier work published by O.D. Skelton under the same name, examines war finance within the broader period of 1913 to 1926, to provide a "correct" perspective on postwar finance.
Canadian Federal Finance
In this booklet, O.D. Skelton writes of Canada's financial situation resulting from the war effort of the previous four years. He emphasizes the need for economic vigilance on the part of all Canadians.
Economic Stabilization in Wartime
The later war years witnessed a marked rise in the cost of living. This booklet addresses different means of stabilizing the wartime economy, and outlines the various reasons for and means of counteracting inflation.
Wartime hints from BC Electric
The monthly newsletter carried a wide range of advice and suggestions: slip-covering furniture rather than purchasing new; maintaining kitchen appliances that could not be replaced; the importance of walking in a time of gasoline rationing; recipes for such things as pickled walnuts and mint tinkle; canning fruits and vegetables; and stretching coffee and tea rations.
The Hyde Park Declaration - Statement by William Lyon Mackenzie King
The Hyde Park Declaration of 1941 detailed an agreement between the United States and Canada to allow American-produced war materials made in Canada, for Britain, to be included in the Lend-Lease agreement. The United States, still neutral at the time, had passed legislation allowing for the production of war materials for the Allied countries, with payment to be made at a later date. The King government feared this would divert British orders in Canada to the United States, so Roosevelt and King devised the Hyde Park Declaration as a means to alleviate this concern.
War Scandals of the Borden Government
Published by the federal Liberal Party, this booklet critically reviews the behaviours and actions of the wartime Borden government. Of particular note are accusations regarding unnecessary supply shortages, production delays, and the ever-present fear of wartime profiteering.
Income Tax, 1917
Originally presented as a temporary wartime measure, the Income War Tax Act of 1917 was viewed as a controversial measure at the time. This digest, offered by R. Easton Burns, a certified accountant, goes through the act clause-by-clause to discuss its full impact on Canadians.
Defending factories and businesses
Pamphlets like this one educated factory and business owners on their wartime responsibilities - both in terms of production and security. It was important that wartime production in Canada maintain an efficient pace and follow the proper security measures to prevent disaster should any industries be threatened by air raids or other domestic threats.
Identification, please !
For many Canadians, the wartime requirement to carry identification at all times was a novelty. Folders like this one were widely distributed as a reminder that they might be asked to produce a registration certificate at any time.
Canada's Trade Policy and the War
Canada's wartime economy relied heavily on foreign trade. This pamphlet outlines Canada's trade policy procedures with emphasis on the import and export of commodities.
Labour and the war
This pamphlet, published in association with the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, offers a glimpse into the problems, attitudes, and aspirations of Canadian factory workers.
Buy Canadian
This handbill, which bears a 1918 postmark from Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, reminded people of the need to buy Canadian-made products, to offset the amount of money being spent purchasing foreign-made munitions and war materials.
"Victory Is Our Business"
Defence Industries Limited opened a munitions plant in Pickering Township, Ontario, in 1941, and the town of Ajax grew up around it. The plant employed some 9000 workers at its peak and filled forty million shells of various sizes over the course of the Second World War.
Mobilizing human resources
The requirement to register with the federal government became law in 1940, and by 1944 had been expanded to apply to every Canadian over the age of sixteen.
Guides for individual taxpayers
These simple guides were intended to answer the standard questions posed by taxpayers: "Who Pays? How Much? When? Where? How?".