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When Canada joined the war effort in 1939, it was largely unprepared for another world conflict. With small numbers across all military divisions and no modern equipment at the beginning of the war, the strength of the Allied powers seemed uncertain as Germany increasingly made territorial gains across Europe. By the following year the tides were turning, with growing numbers of Canadian men and women enlisting, a concentrated war effort on the home front, and a fierce propaganda campaign at work.

Prime Minister at the time, William Lyon Mackenzie King recognized the need not for misleading and overly aggrandizing media, but rather for honest and frank communication that would inspire confidence and national unity amongst the Canadian people. To achieve this end, all public media was coordinated under a centralized Wartime Information Board, a subsection of the Department of National Defense.

Propaganda posters such as these worked to foster an ideological connection across the nation, with statements such as “To Victory! With our help” and “the men are ready…only YOU can give them wings”, illustrating that those on the homefront had just as much value and influence on the outcome of the war as those fighting overseas. The streamlined illustrations and representational imagery created a standardized language of perseverance, responsibility and tentative optimism that was easily understood across Canada, unifying the country under a shared sense of nationalism and purpose. As a result of the galvanizing effects of wartime propaganda and the tirelessness of those on the homefront and in battle, Canada’s manufacturing industry boomed and diversified, jobs were created, women took on new and unprecedented social roles and Canada’s identity as an independent, albeit modest, nation was made clear on the world stage.