I would have to say it made Canada stringer as a nation.
One thing to keep in mind is that during World War II Canada was still very much
considered to be part of the British Empire. Thus when England declared war on September
3. 1939, and was joined by France,Australia, and New Zealand, it was a strong political
statement that Canada did not declare war until September 10, a full week later. This
was a powerful nation-building moment for Canada, because it was symbolic to the rest of
the world of Canada's existence as a sovereign nation that could make its own decisions
on a metter of such importance.
At the outset of WWII
Canada was suffering economically from the Great Depression, along with the US. War
production greatly bolstered Canada's economy (which was true for the US also). Canada
was already a major producer of automobiles, primarily due to US manufacturers building
factories in Ontario. Canada also has mineral resources, particularly iron, aluminum,
nickel, and copper, in abundance. Producing vehicles for the war effort built up
Canada's manufacturing base and infrastructure, and moved them forward in the world
economy. After the war, the factories were quickly converted to making civilain goods,
and Canada emerged onto the world stage as an economic player, becoming the
second-largest car manufacturer in the world at the end of the
war.
Canada also played host to Allied forces as a training
site during the war. For example, the Canadian Air Force trained over 130,000 pilots,
but only about half were Canadians, the rest coming from other British Commonwealth
countries. This was a great source of national pride for Canadians, who by the end of
the war had the world's fourth largest air force and the world's fourth largest navy,
despite having very small military forces in 1939.
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