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Toronto was a very different-looking city during World War II, a bustling manufacturing and transit point in the North American industrial powerhouse that contributed immense manpower and equipment toward the defeat of the Axis powers. A visual trip back to war-era Toronto reveals a burgeoning metropolis on the precipice of a substantial post-war population and building boom, a time when Art Deco architecture and soot-stained church steeples dominated the local skyline, and just 650,000 residents called the city home. Canada declared war on Nazi Germany on Sept. 10, 1939, kicking off a bloody campaign lasting over five years, where roughly 3,400 Toronto residents serving in the armed forces were killed, along with close to 40,000 other Canadians. But back on the home front, it was a combination of Canada's vast natural resources, industrial power, and the contribution of women in manufacturing and other sectors that collectively kept the troops fighting overseas well-supplied in their battle for democracy. Toronto Shipyards Launch 1944/Harry Rowed-National Film Board of Canada Wartime rally at Maple Leaf Gardens June 1, 1941/City of Toronto Archives Victory Loans billboard at Old City Hall May 13, 1945/City of Toronto Archives Bren gun manufacturing Ceremony at John Inglis Co., Ltd. Photo: Alexandra Studio, August 20, 1943/City of Toronto Archives RCAF parade on University Ave. City of Toronto Archives De Havilland Canada aircraft plant Bernice Colter sanding aircraft parts at De Havilland Canada plant Photo: John Boyd Jr., January 21, 1943/City of Toronto Archives Wedding at Stanley Barracks September 20,1941/City of Toronto Archives Film star Sterling Hayden and troops at Old City Hall 1942/City of Toronto Archives Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service at HMCS York May 26, 1943/City of Toronto Archives Buying food at Eatons using ration stamps Photo: John H. Boyd March 30, 1943/City of Toronto Archives Miss War Worker Beauty Contest July 18, 1942/City of Toronto Archives Victory Gardens June 5, 1943/City of Toronto Archives Chorley Park Hospital June 21, 1945/City of Toronto Archives V-E Day celebrations on Bay St. Photo: John H. Boyd May 7, 1945/City of Toronto Archives V-E Day celebrations on King St. Photo: E.R. White May 8, 1945/City of Toronto Archives Toronto's population would explode in the postwar years, bringing a wave of new residents, the expansion of suburbs, and many more profound changes to life in the city.
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