Holding down living cost/price rises since the outbreak of war in Canada and some other countries

The War Economy and Controls: Wage and Price Controls

Prime Minister Mackenzie King was determined to avoid the problems of greed and inflation which had plagued Canada during the First World War. Using the powers of the War Measures Act, he established the Wartime Prices and Trade Board, with the aim of stopping prices and wages from spiralling out of control.

Initially, the Board did relatively little, putting on partial limits on rents, coal, sugar, timber, steel, milk and a few other goods. But in 1941 the cost of living began to rise sharply. In a radio broadcast, King announced a freeze on prices and the setting of levels for wages and salaries. The Chairman of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board, Donald Gordon, became one of the most recognizable and powerful figures in wartime Canada. He used the radio himself to put his blunt message in front of Canadians: if their money was to keep its value, they must accept tight controls.

The Board built up a huge structure of 13 regional offices and 100 local offices, whose staffs were not always popular. Controls resulted in the shortage of certain goods and some poorly-made products reaching Canadians. But the cost of living, which had risen 17.8% from 1939 to 1941, increased only 2.8% from 1941 to 1945, the most successful record among all the major nations in the war.

Related Newspaper Articles

English Articles

• Maintain Canada Economy on Even Keel During War
  The Hamilton Spectator, 11/12/1939
   
• The Price Ceiling Order is Now Law
  The Globe And Mail, 01/12/1941
   
• Wartime Wage Control
  The Hamilton Spectator, 14/01/1942
   
• Poultry Business Locked Up in Swift 'Black Market' Raid
  The Globe And Mail, 10/08/1943
   
• The Story of Inflation...in One Easy Lesson
  The Globe And Mail, 14/04/1944
   
• Be Patient! Don't Confuse the Signals
  The Globe And Mail, 06/06/1945
   
• Canada to Continue Price Control Policy
  The Globe And Mail, 03/07/1946
   
• The Price Of Price Control
  The Hamilton Spectator, 03/07/1946
   
• Wages Now an Employer-Employee Matter
  The Toronto Daily Star, 30/11/1946
  

French Articles

• Travail efficace de la Commission des prix et du commerce en temps de guerre
  Le Devoir, 04/01/1941
   
• L'Office du bacon prend des mesures pour réglementer la consommation de porc
  Le Devoir, 07/06/1941
   
• Les salaires en temps de guerre
  Le Devoir, 05/07/1941
   
• "Commerce et finance. Nouvelles restrictions dans les objets de luxe"
  Le Devoir, 05/01/1942
   
• Les Prix. Marchandises saisonnières
  Le Devoir, 20/01/1942
   
• Les prix. Accessoires électriques
  Le Devoir, 20/01/1942
   
• L'ordonnance des loyers en temps de guerre
  Le Devoir, 29/01/1942
   
• L'essence. Permis et carnet pour chaque auto
  Le Devoir, 12/02/1942
   
• Les prix des produits laitiers
  Le Devoir, 14/02/1942
   
• Restriction sévères sur l'emploi de l'étain
  Le Devoir, 26/02/1942
   
• "Les prix des journaux, revues et magazines"
  Le Devoir, 24/03/1942
   
• La viande et les prix de guerre
  Le Devoir, 07/05/1942
   
• Nouvelle ordonnance sur le pneus
  Le Devoir, 15/05/1942
   
• Rationnement du thé et du café et nouveau rationnement du sucre
  Le Devoir, 26/05/1942
   
• "Prix et commerce. Buanderies, dégraisseurs, teintureries"
  Le Devoir, 08/06/1942
   
• Ordonnances. Restrictions sur les livraisons faites par les grossistes
  Le Devoir, 22/07/1942
   
• La Commission des prix impose le rationnement du papier-journal
  Le Devoir, 09/01/1943
   
• M. Wilfrid Hamel et la Commission des prix
  Le Devoir, 10/08/1944
   
• Le contrôle des prix préviendra l'inflation
  Le Devoir, 11/05/1945
   
• Restrictions levées par Ottawa
  Le Devoir, 07/06/1945