The rise to power of Hitler in early 1933, and the establishment of Nazism in Germany, led in the remaining years of the 1930's to a set of increasingly severe measures against Jews that were to end, in the course of the Second World War, with the Holocaust, an attempt to annihilate an entire people and in which an estimated 6 million European Jews were to die.
Canada's decision to refuse the allowance of Jewish refugees during the Nazi era was correct. Canada admitted approximately 5000 Jewish refugees in the ˜30s. Because of the horrible Great Depression and causes of anti-Jewish prejudices and discrimination, the entry of Jewish peoples remained at an extremely low rate.
The Great Depression had major effects on the refusal of Jewish Immigrants during the 1930's. The high rates of unemployment stirred up confusion and hate against the immigrants. Canadians. In most regions the unemployed population outnumbered the employed population. The idea of this caused Canadians to not have tolerance over immigrants coming and joining the unemployed population. Before the 1930's a random spike of unnecessary immigrant workers entered Canada when the country needed them the least. Canadians have always been conditioned to think of immigration as essentially serving the economic interests of Canada. Immigration had been supported by ordinary Canadians to the extent that the immigrants "knew their place", that they contributed to the Canadian economy, that is that they settled on farms in the great western prairies of Canada, that they were not seen as competing for the often scarce industrial jobs of Canada. When the job market decreased very little Canadians were ready to support the Jewish immigrants. The immigrants were to be seen as potentially entering Canada to compete for the scarce amount of jobs and the very depressing low wages. Governments were accurately aware of these feelings and adjusted the system accordingly.