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
Housing House purchase	Source Current income	City $18,018	Village	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Savings	City 2,032,883	Village 343,531	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Instalment Credit	City 1,121,171	Village	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Borrowings	City 5,058,108	Village 123,153	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Total	City 8,230,180	Village 466,684	Farm 304,187	Total 9,001,051
Housing House Repairs and Additions:	Source Current Income.	City 192,477	Village 4,861	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Savings	City 523,802	Village 109,541	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Instalment Credit	City 82,658	Village 2,593	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Borrowings	City 117,928	Village	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Total	City 916,865	Village 116,995	Farm 349,076	Total 1,382,936
Housing Garage:	Source Current Income	City 29,279	Village 14,908	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Savings	City 96,171	Village 5,185	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Instalment Credit	City 23,423	Village 1,296	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Borrowings	City 14,414	Village	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Total	City 163,287	Village 21,389	Farm	Total 184,676
Housing Bathroom and Plumbing:	Source Current Income	City 17,523	Village 10,371	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Savings	City 87,522	Village 48,613	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Instalment Credit	City 14,414	Village 2,593	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Borrowings.	City 12,342	Village	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Total	City 131,801	Village 61,577	Farm 283,251	Total 476,629
Housing Heating Equipment:	Source Current Income	City 30,045	Village 13,612	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Savings	City 116,757	Village 31,760	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Instalment Credit	City 35,991	Village 3,241	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Borrowings.	City 40,090	Village	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Total	City 222,883	Village 48,613	Farm	Total 271,496
Housing Install Electricity	Source	City	Village	Farm 166,256	Total 166,256
Housing Install Telephone	Source	City	Village	Farm 3,695	Total 3,695
Housing Total House Purchase or Improvements:	Source Current Income.	City 287,342	Village 43,752	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Savings	City 2,857,135	Village 538,631	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Instalment Credit	City 1,277,657	Village 9,722	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Borrowings	City 5,242,882	Village 123,153	Farm	Total
Housing	Source Total	City 9,665,016	Village 715,258	Farm 1,106,465	Total 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
Industrial classification Manufacturing	Sub- classification Food Processing	In Armed Services Male 282	In Armed Services Female 13	Expected to Return Male 189	Expected to Return Female 8
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Automobile Equipment	In Armed Services Male 776	In Armed Services Female 30	Expected to Return Male 557	Expected to Return Female 15
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Furniture and Wood Products	In Armed Services Male 284	In Armed Services Female 3	Expected to Return Male 200	Expected to Return Female 0
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Electrical Equipment	In Armed Services Male 136	In Armed Services Female 3	Expected to Return Male 98	Expected to Return Female 0
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Steel and Iron Products	In Armed Services Male 421	In Armed Services Female 8	Expected to Return Male 327	Expected to Return Female 6
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Textiles and Clothing	In Armed Services Male 221	In Armed Services Female 17	Expected to Return Male 179	Expected to Return Female 13
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Brewing and Distilling	In Armed Services Male 92	In Armed Services Female 0	Expected to Return Male 65	Expected to Return Female 0
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Leather and Boots and Shoes	In Armed Services Male 186	In Armed Services Female 6	Expected to Return Male 170	Expected to Return Female 6
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Printing and Publishing	In Armed Services Male 37	In Armed Services Female 0	Expected to Return Male 27	Expected to Return Female 0
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Miscellaneous	In Armed Services Male 26	In Armed Services Female 1	Expected to Return Male 18	Expected to Return Female 0
Industrial classification	Sub- classification Total	In Armed Services Male 2461	In Armed Services Female 81	Expected to Return Male 1830	Expected to Return Female 48
Industrial classification Finance	Sub- classification	In Armed Services Male 157	In Armed Services Female 13	Expected to Return Male 146	Expected to Return Female 7
Industrial classification Trade	Sub- classification	In Armed Services Male 474	In Armed Services Female 30	Expected to Return Male 286	Expected to Return Female 10
Industrial classification Services	Sub- classification	In Armed Services Male 70	In Armed Services Female 2	Expected to Return Male 46	Expected to Return Female 0
Industrial classification Transportation and Communications	Sub- classification	In Armed Services Male 42	In Armed Services Female 5	Expected to Return Male 32	Expected to Return Female 5
Industrial classification Construction	Sub- classification	In Armed Services Male 34	In Armed Services Female 0	Expected to Return Male 27	Expected to Return Female 0
Industrial classification Grand Total	Sub- classification	In Armed Services Male 3198	In Armed Services Female 131	Expected to Return Male 2367	Expected to Return Female 70