After the manufacturers of heavy equipment, the shipbuilding industry was the second largest employer in the country during the war. By 1943 it employed about 126,000 people.
With the closing of the St. Lawrence River to overseas shipping in September 1942, after the sinking of merchant vessels there, the wartime trade shifted to ports on the East Coast. The Maritimes enjoyed new prosperity due to this stimulation of the local economy.
In this painting, Building Ships for the Merchant Navy, Jack Humphrey has portrayed activities in his home town of Saint John, New Brunswick.
