National Archives of Canada (C-049392, photo by J. F. Mailer).
Ex-servicemen Constructing a House at the Edmonton Rehabilitation School, Edmonton, Alberta, March 1946.
The Second World War veterans pictured here are participating in a government vocational rehabilitation program. Governments devised many more such programs after 1945 than they had after the First World War.
After the Second World War, the Canadian government, and Canadians at large, were much more prepared than they had been after 1918 to recognize the enormous contributions of military personnel. The 1944 Veterans' Charter provided veterans with cash allowances, life insurance, and necessities such as civilian clothing. The government also paid for vocational and higher education, guaranteed the returning men their old jobs, and offered funding for housing and new businesses. The veterans richly deserved the nation's gratitude. But for the Allied solders' tremendous efforts, the Western world would have fallen victim to the scourges of fascism and militarism.
