The Dollar a Year Men: How the Best Business Brains in Canada Helped to Win the Second World War

by Allan Levine

" The Dollar A Year Men is about the largely untold story as to how Canada recruited business leaders who made enormous contributions toward helping Canada mobilize and industrialize during the Second World War. Some of the nation' s richest tycoons and business executives dedicated years to converting Canada' s under-utilized industries into factories that produced war materials, weapons, and equipment. They and others volunteered willingly and became a top-notch team that turned Canada into a military-industrial powerhouse that helped defeat Hitler. This book is a must-read and contains untold stories of courage, dedication and sacrifice from Canada' s proud past.
Diane Francis, journalist and author
" This is an important book, a reminder that when Canada is under assault, good men and women step up to serve. That is what happened in World War Two. That is what is happening now."
Rt. Honourable Jean Chretien, former Prime Minister of Canada
" Allan Levine inspires pride in Canada' s past and hope for a brighter future. He tells how a nation with a population of only 11.2 million and a small manufacturing base at the beginning of WWII was transformed by patriotism, talent and sheer determination into a military and industrial powerhouse. The Dollar a Year Men couldn' t be more timely as we chart a new course for Canada. "
Hon. Perrin Beatty, P.C., O.C.

477 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 30, 2025

About the author

Allan Levine was born in Winnipeg in 1956 and received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Toronto in 1985. He is the author of 10 non-fiction books that have examined a wide-range of political, social and economic issues. He has delved into Canadian, European, American and Jewish history. He has also published five historical mystery novels, including Evil of the Age and four books featuring Sam Klein. He has been freelancing articles and reviews for more than 30 years. He frequently contributes to the National Post and for the past six years has been writing a column for the Winnipeg Free Press, Now & Then, which looks at the history behind current events. In all of his work, he aims to bring the past alive and reflect on history's lessons.

Reviews

[Catherine Constable · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book 4 instead of 5 stars, merely because I'm not trained as an historian and found the non-stop granular details overwhelming. That's my "fault", not the book's. Having picked this book to read because of the current world situation in which Canada finds itself, and the intentions of current Prime Minister Carney to reposition Canada's economy, I learned TONS. The transformation of Canada's economy during WWII, including the development of new industry powerhouses, is amazing. The civic duty taken on by the dollar a year men, and the companies they worked for, is astonishing. Could anything similar happen now, when social values have changed so much? The book is a who's who of the top business executives and (still well-known) major companies in Canada at the time. If you want a better understanding of what happened to transform Canadian business and Canada's economy during WWII, including the unusual and remarkable actions taken by the federal government to facilitate that, read this book.

[John Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone working in defence industry today (2026) in Canada. Heavy on stats but a good book.