Canada is the 9thlargest economy in the world based on GDP (current prices, US dollars) and the 14thlargest based on GDP (PPP).Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the Canadian economy has re-emerged as one of the strongest advanced economies in the world. In 2010, Canada’s GDP growth (constant prices, national currency) stood at 3.071 percent – the highest it had been since 2004.
Prior to World War II, agriculture was the primary driver of the Canadian economy with over 60 percent of the population living in rural towns or farms. Canada had struggled to recover from the Great Depression, with Gross National Product falling by 43 percent and exports dropping by 50 percent between 1929 and 1933. By 1933, unemployment had risen to more than 25%.
World War II marked a major transformation in the Canadian economy. Manufacturing, mining and services grew rapidly to meet the demands of the war and agriculture production became more mechanised and efficient.
As a result, there was an upturn in industrial production and manufacturing in Canada. New jobs were also being created while industries benefitted from a highly trained and diversified labour force that had arisen during the war.