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External WebsitesEmeritus Professor of Geography, University of Waterloo, Ontario. Coauthor of Canada: A New Geography and others.
Ralph R. Krueger , Norman L. NicholsonSenior Professor of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London. Author of The Boundaries of the Canadian Confederation and others.
Norman L. Nicholson • All Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Sep 17, 2024 • Article History Table of ContentsAsk the Chatbot a Question
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The policy of the Liberal government (in power since 1935), wartime cooperation, and the close economic interconnections between Canada and the United States had brought the two neighbours into a more intimate relationship than ever before. After World War II Canada’s special relations with the United States continued and expanded. Two new trends proved significant. One was the growth of “ continentalism,” a special relationship that challenged the theory of national independence. The second was the unequal rate of economic and technological development, especially after 1950. The United States, the world leader in industrial capacity and technology, was nearing the limits to which it could exploit some of its natural resources. Canada, within the inner defense orbit of the United States, had many such resources undeveloped and available. The interest of the United States was, therefore, to have assured access to these resources as they were developed, largely with U.S. capital. This U.S. policy, however, tended to keep Canada a producer of primary commodities and a country of relatively low income. Canada’s national development—as well as its hope of educational and cultural development—required the continued growth, under Canadian control, of its manufacturing industries. Yet its provinces—owners of the natural resources of the country, except for those controlled by the Northwest Territories, and driven by the need to secure revenue and to satisfy the popular demand for development—were eager to sell their resources to foreign, usually U.S., investors. This disparity of aim made U.S.-Canadian relations, if much better diplomatically than in the days of territorial expansion and boundary settlements, much more subtle and complicated than ever before.