Kitchener-Waterloo Survey 1944

Wednesday, November 18, 2015 by Martha Lauzon

In 1943, with the Second World War raging, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce began (rather optimistically) to plan for the coming peace, and they invited the Waterloo and Kitchener Boards of Trade to participate in an experimental fact-finding survey of Waterloo County (now Waterloo Region), to determine "economic facts about the past and present and the expectations of the future in their district".¹

During the war, although there was nearly full employment and people had a lot of money, nearly all manufacturing had been converted to military purposes and consumer goods were scarce; there was nothing for people to spend their money on. The Chamber of Commerce was interested in what goods people intended to buy, so that industry could be properly retooled to produce what people wanted, and so that there would be jobs for returning servicemen and servicewomen.

The plan was to release the findings from and procedures used for the Kitchener-Waterloo Survey, so that other boards of trade could conduct their own surveys; however, no other surveys were ever undertaken.

¹Kitchener-Waterloo Survey, foreword.

Kitchener-Waterloo Survey: A Fact-Finding Survey for Post-War Planning. Part I. The Findings. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce 1944. [Stamped, bottom right hand corner: From Kitchener Board of Trade]

The special problems facing farmers during the war.

Transciption of page 15

Equally drastic changes have occurred in the farming community surrounding the twin cities; but of a very different character.

Just as insistent have been the demands on the farmer to produce more than ever he produced before, as on the factory management. Both farmer and factory manager were confronted by the same labour problem; in that enlistment into the country's Armed Forces was depleting the labour supply, just when more labour was most urgently needed. But here the parallel ends abruptly.

The farmer could not bring in workers from elsewhere to replace his own sons or the hired man, who had made for the nearest recruiting centre. There was no convenient source of population outside his own neighbourhood, on which to draw for labour. On the contrary, the "suction" of the cities, the demand for more and more help in the nearby factories, affected him at an earlier stage than anyone else; and so the departure of a great many farm workers into the Services was supplemented by the disappearance of others leaving to take jobs in munitions plants.

The result is that, from approximately 2,500 farms in the four townships canvassed, more than 1,200 members of farm families have left in the past four years—or almost one from every second farm; and, in addition, there has been a loss of more than 700 hired men, who had been employed on a permanent basis until war broke out—or not much less than a loss of one hired man from every third farm in the district.

Nevertheless, the demands for increased production from the land have been met. The number of cattle maintained on the farms has been increased appreciably. The hog population has been raised by nearly 35%. Flocks of poultry have been enlarged by 38%. Feed in accordance with these greater needs has been secured. Tillage on the mixed farms, which constitute more than two-thirds of all farms in these townships, has been well maintained.

The response of the farmer has thus been more than adequate. Short-handed, he has worked harder, perhaps, than ever he worked before. But it is clear, too, that the results achieved have involved another heavy cost besides that of unremitting toil. The farmer has achieved his production objectives only by neglecting the maintenance of his farm buildings and equipment continuously during this period of stress. Sooner or later, of course, all such deferred maintenance must be made good, if the farm is to retain its capacity for production.

This condition is vividly reflected in the farmers' post-war purchasing plans, analysed in Chapter VI below. Their prospective post-war expenditures are, at first sight, somewhat impressive. An average outlay per farm of $2,133 means, for the district as a whole, the disbursement by farmers of $5,300,000; and will provide employment, somewhere, literally for thousands of workers.

Farmers were not asked the source of the funds they intended to spend. Note the money required to install electricity and telephones on farms. I also find interesting the comparative levels of borrowing and installment credit between city and village dwellers.

Transcription of page 18

KITCHENER-WATERLOO SURVEY
POST-WAR PURCHASING PLANS

Housing	Source	City	Village	Farm	Total
House purchase	Current income	$18,018
	Savings	2,032,883	343,531
	Instalment Credit	1,121,171
	Borrowings	5,058,108	123,153
	Total	8,230,180	466,684	304,187	9,001,051
House Repairs and Additions:	Current Income.	192,477	4,861
	Savings	523,802	109,541
	Instalment Credit	82,658	2,593
	Borrowings	117,928
	Total	916,865	116,995	349,076	1,382,936
Garage:	Current Income	29,279	14,908
	Savings	96,171	5,185
	Instalment Credit	23,423	1,296
	Borrowings	14,414
	Total	163,287	21,389		184,676
Bathroom and Plumbing:	Current Income	17,523	10,371
	Savings	87,522	48,613
	Instalment Credit	14,414	2,593
	Borrowings.	12,342
	Total	131,801	61,577	283,251	476,629
Heating Equipment:	Current Income	30,045	13,612
	Savings	116,757	31,760
	Instalment Credit	35,991	3,241
	Borrowings.	40,090
	Total	222,883	48,613		271,496
Install Electricity				166,256	166,256
Install Telephone				3,695	3,695
Total House Purchase or Improvements:	Current Income.	287,342	43,752
	Savings	2,857,135	538,631
	Instalment Credit	1,277,657	9,722
	Borrowings	5,242,882	123,153
	Total	9,665,016	715,258	1,106,465	11,486,739

This small chart buried on page 43 appears to be the only acknowledgement in the entire survey that soldiers were dying overseas. Given that the war was still in full swing, I'd be curious to see how they came up with their "expected to return" numbers. Are these the people who upon enlisting told their bosses that they intended to return to their jobs? Are they the people still alive as of the completion of the survey? Are they the subject of some complex actuarial calculation?

Transcription of page 43

Appendix D

BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT CANVASS

4. Former Employees in the Armed Services

Industrial classification	Sub- classification	In Armed Services Male	In Armed Services Female	Expected to Return Male	Expected to Return Female
Manufacturing	Food Processing	282	13	189	8
	Automobile Equipment	776	30	557	15
	Furniture and Wood Products	284	3	200	0
	Electrical Equipment	136	3	98	0
	Steel and Iron Products	421	8	327	6
	Textiles and Clothing	221	17	179	13
	Brewing and Distilling	92	0	65	0
	Leather and Boots and Shoes	186	6	170	6
	Printing and Publishing	37	0	27	0
	Miscellaneous	26	1	18	0
	Total	2461	81	1830	48
Finance		157	13	146	7
Trade		474	30	286	10
Services		70	2	46	0
Transportation and Communications		42	5	32	5
Construction		34	0	27	0
Grand Total		3198	131	2367	70