- Over production. Following the roaring 20's where people were buying mass amounts if material items companies produced more then was needed, people stopped buying things (or bought less) and companies had to close.
- Inflation. Prices kept rising but wages didn't keep up with the cost of living so people stopped buying.
- Credit: people were buying on credit and later couldn't keep up and buying stock on margin. Lots of 10% down, pay rest later. It made a bubble economy.
- Stock market closed. The price of stocks declined and many investors lost money, sometimes all their money.
- Drought. The prairies experienced a 6 year drought, crops failed, they couldn't pay bills and many farmers lost their farms.
Impacts
- Young people. There wasn't any jobs left for them. Thousands ride freight trains west looking for work that didn't exist but they knew their families couldn't afford for them to stay home.
- Families didn't have the money to pay rent of homes, food, clothes and bills. Manybof them were sent to relief camps and children were often orphaned. Meanwhile the declining standard of living made life easier for the wealthy (unless they lost their company).
- Workforce. With men losing jobs the workforce declined greatly. Also many started unions to protect their jobs, declining wages and fought for social assistance. 30% of the workforce was unemployed
- Immigrant groups. Immigration dropped while deportation rose. Jews and Roma were fleeing Nazi Germany and many were denied immigration to Canada. A lot of people blamed immigrants and wouldn't hire them.
- Single Men & Women. Single men were denied assistance and forced to relief camps were they worked for 20cents a day. This lead to the Regina Riot. Single women were laid off in greater numbers then men, particularly from government jobs. Thus forced many single women back into domestic service.
- Farmers. Many farmers lost their farms and had to move to the city, where the workforce was already in stress (no jobs). Farmers also fought for government relief and subsidized crops and insurance.
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