Social Problem Resolved
The great depression ended in 1939-1940 due the prosperity brought on by World War II (1). With the world war came a great demand for resources. Alberta, as well as the rest of Canada now had significant demand for their goods. This high demand generated much higher profits and this new-found income quickly spread through the provinces’ economies, and for a time the social problem appeared irrelevant. However, the more advanced manufactured goods produced by Ontario and Quebec were in much higher demand, and went for much higher prices, than the primary resources. By the end of WWII Alberta’s Economy had improved, however, the industrial provinces of Ontario and Quebec had profited much more and were vastly wealthier than Alberta.
However, just at the end of World War 2, in 1945 (2), there was a great discovery in Alberta. In 1945, in the Leduc area, a great oil reserve was discovered (3). This discovery lead to a huge migration across Canada as people left their homes and their farms to go to Alberta to get rich. This oil lead to huge corporate profits and thus, greatly increased the Albertan economy. Even to this day Alberta’s economy is greatly influenced by oil (4)
We now see that the Albertan GDP is the 4th highest of all the provinces and it produces approximately 18% of Canada’s total GDP (5). GDP is the measure of all the goods and services produced in a province, it is also a good indicator of how rich a province is. (6), they also have the second highest GDP per capita, (7,8,9,10) GDP per capita is often a good method used to determine quality of life (11). Alberta is also often described as a “have” province, (12) or a province that produces so much, its wealth and products are distributed to other “have-not” provinces such as PEI and Newfoundland (13).These statistics seem to show that Alberta is actually doing very well economically compared to the other provinces.
However, just at the end of World War 2, in 1945 (2), there was a great discovery in Alberta. In 1945, in the Leduc area, a great oil reserve was discovered (3). This discovery lead to a huge migration across Canada as people left their homes and their farms to go to Alberta to get rich. This oil lead to huge corporate profits and thus, greatly increased the Albertan economy. Even to this day Alberta’s economy is greatly influenced by oil (4)
We now see that the Albertan GDP is the 4th highest of all the provinces and it produces approximately 18% of Canada’s total GDP (5). GDP is the measure of all the goods and services produced in a province, it is also a good indicator of how rich a province is. (6), they also have the second highest GDP per capita, (7,8,9,10) GDP per capita is often a good method used to determine quality of life (11). Alberta is also often described as a “have” province, (12) or a province that produces so much, its wealth and products are distributed to other “have-not” provinces such as PEI and Newfoundland (13).These statistics seem to show that Alberta is actually doing very well economically compared to the other provinces.