“Vacation for Victory!” British Columbia’s call for a Women’s Land Army during the Second World War and the prairie women who answered

During the Second World War, Canada experienced a shortage of agricultural workers. After a decade of economic depression, the appeal of well-paying factory jobs or a position in the armed forces pulled many young men and women away from rural areas. While each province strived to maximize food production in agricultural regions with a depleted labour force, only British Columbia and Ontario instituted a Provincial Women's Land Army. However, while Ontario's Farm Labour Program quickly gained momentum, British Columbia experienced difficulty in recruiting women from within their province to engage in fruit farming and orchard labour. Reaching out of province, the Minister of Agriculture was able to secure tremendous help from women in Alberta and Saskatchewan under the auspices of the Dominion-Provincial Farm Labour Program. Utilizing the concepts of gender, race, class, topography, and propaganda, this thesis examines British Columbia's difficulties in recruiting its own women and demonstrates why these same concepts help explain the successful mobilization of Prairie women.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor dc:publisher

Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Lonie, Kelsey Marie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Leyton-Brown, Kenneth

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Blake, Raymond
• Keshen, Jeff

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.82465/3990

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uregina.scholaris.ca:10294/16449