Great depression & relief camps

In the late hours of February 10, 1939, a crowd of around 9,000 Vancouverites gathered at the train station on Cordova Street, eagerly anticipating the return of 31 “Mac-Paps” – Canadian volunteers who fought against fascism as part of the...

For almost five decades Syd Thompson (1914-1992) was a formidable force in BC’s labour movement. President of the large Vancouver local of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) and the Vancouver and District Labour Council, Thompson didn’t often mince words...

John Cunningham “Jack” McVicar (1893-1971) was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 213 in Vancouver following his immigration from Glasgow, Scotland in 1910. He held no executive positions in the union, but was on the...

BC at Work, Episode 8, was first broadcast on October 23, 1988. It was produced by Michael Morgan and Associates and Shane Lunny Productions for the BC Federation of Labour as a public affairs television program comprising 13 episodes. Twelve...

The BC Workers’ News was published by the Communist Party beginning in 1935. It changed its title several times in ensuing years. This collection includes issues since its inception until 1946.   Visit the BC Workers' News digital archive.

Jack Henderson (1880-1968) was a labour activist and community leader in Vancouver, Canada. Henderson discusses his long involvement in the labour movement, starting when he joined the Amalgamated Society of Railroad Servants in England in 1896. He describes his experiences...

Clay Perry (1934-2015) was passionate about preserving and promoting BC labour history. In 1988 he recorded humourous segments for a television program produced by the BC Federation of Labour titled "BC at Work" that presented issues from the perspective of...

This 24-minute video documents the widespread unemployment and economic hardship experienced in Canada, particularly in British Columbia, during the Great Depression.

The Great Depression of the 1930s severely impacted British Columbia, leading to a widespread economic collapse and mass unemployment across Canada. Many young men traveled to the West Coast, seeking refuge from the hardship in the milder climate. This video...

This bronze plaque is located on the Main St. overpass near E Waterfront Road in Vancouver, BC. It was developed with the support of the On to Ottawa Historical Society, which merged into the BC Labour Heritage Centre in 2018....

This bronze plaque is located at the corner of Mt. Seymour Parkway and Northlands Dr. in North Vancouver, BC. It was developed with the support of the Deep Cove Heritage Society. The plaque was cast at Ornamental Bronze, a unionized...

This bronze plaque is located at Barnet Marine Park, 8181 Barnet Rd, Burnaby, BC. It was developed with the support of the City of Burnaby Community Heritage Commission. The plaque was cast at Ornamental Bronze, a unionized foundry in Richmond...

Project News was a publication of the Relief Project Workers' Union (RPWU) The RPWU was successor to the Relief Camp Workers' Union, a creation of the Workers' Unity League which had led the 1935 strike that culminated in the On-to-Ottawa...

"The March to Ballantyne Pier" by Janet Mary Nicol, provides a detailed account of a pivotal event in Vancouver's labour history: the longshoremen's strike and the subsequent violent confrontation at Ballantyne Pier on June 18, 1935.

This document provides a comprehensive bibliography and resource guide for the "On to Ottawa Trek" and related events during Canada's Great Depression. It was compiled by David Yorke for the On to Ottawa Historical Society prior to its merger with...

This 640-acre area was a military training ground, then a Great Depression relief camp, later Vancouver’s main training facility during World War II. The Blair Rifle Range is now an unsafe urban wasteland.

A strike by longshore workers in 1935 was a show of solidarity with other waterfront unions in Vancouver, Powell River, and Port Alberni in response to the Shipping Federation's refusal to negotiate.

This booklet discusses the dire economic period of the 1930s in Canada, and the critical social crisis that emerged with widespread unemployment. As a response, the government established remote Relief Camps where single, unemployed men were forced to work for...

During the Great Depression, unemployed men took to the rails, with the intention of arriving en masse in Ottawa. While they did not reach their destination, this protest lives on in memory. Students are introduced to the economic and political...

While documenting the events of the 1938 Relief Camp Workers sit-down strikes and occupations in downtown Vancouver, this film presents their reasons for the protest, and the radically differing reactions to their collective protest by the three levels of government:...

This is a joint interview with Charles McGregor Stewart (1891-1968) and Peter Campbell Munro (1887-1971), who were active in the Street Railwaymen’s Union in Vancouver, British Columbia in the early decades of the 20th century. They discuss the impact of...

Robert (Bob) Smeal (1920-1976) describes his experiences as a young unemployed man during the Great Depression in the 1930s in Vancouver. He details his involvement with various unemployed organizations, including the Single Unemployed Protective Association (SUPA) and the Relief Camp...

400 miners, 100 police, two navy ships and a machine gun Anyox was a small, isolated company-owned coastal community in northwestern B.C. without road or rail access. It was mined between 1914-1935 for its copper and other precious metals by...

With a population of 2,479 in 1931, the city of Prince George, BC had hundreds of unemployed. That year, a branch of the communist-led National Unemployed Workers Association (NUWA) was established in the Prince George District. Under the watchful eye...

Despite police predictions that it would be a “dismal failure”, 6,000 men, women and children descended on the Powell Street grounds (now Oppenheimer Park) in Vancouver on February 22, 1932 for a “Hunger March”, organized by the Communist Party of...

During the dirty ‘30s, thousands of single, unemployed men were forced into federally run relief camps: isolated, militarized work sites where they worked under punishing conditions for just 20 cents a day. In this episode of On the Line, we...

Labour’s May Day (sometimes called International Workers’ Day) on May 1 has been held around the world for over 120 years. In many countries May Day is a statutory holiday that celebrates international solidarity and the long history of labour...

In the dark years of the Great Depression, workers at the Fraser Mills lumber plant in what is now Coquitlam put aside their differences and fought for fair wages and dignity. In this episode of the On the Line podcast,...

In April 1935 thousands of single unemployed men organized by the Relief Camp Workers’ Union went on strike to demand “Work and Wages” as the Depression wore away at the country. “Snake parades” through city streets were frequent during the...