World War II marked
the birth of modern-day Alberta. Prior to the war, Alberta was a predominantly rural province focused on agriculture.
There were significant minority populations in the province but political, economic and
social life was dominated by the majority culture, a culture that could overwhelmingly
trace its ancestry to Great Britain.
Today, even though agriculture
remains decidedly important, Alberta's population is primarily situated in urban
centres. While the economic development brought about by World War II
lifted Canada out of the Great Depression, in Alberta it was the tremendous discoveries of oil and gas that forever
transformed the province.
In the post-World War II era, immigrants to Alberta have predominantly made their way to the
province's burgeoning towns and cities and not to rural areas. With the adoption of
multiculturalism and much of the bias removed from Canadian immigration
policy, Alberta in
the postwar period has become much more culturally diverse.
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This digital collection was
produced with financial assistance from Canada's Digital
Collections initiative, Industry Canada.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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