Hi there, sorry for the delayed response but I hope I can answer your question. I recently answered a very similar question a couple of months ago that you can have a look at! To very briefly summarize, Canada made significant contributions of manpower and material to the Allied war effort - especially when considering the size of the population in 1939. Major contributions included putting close to one million men and women in uniform, escorting convoys across the Atlantic while fending off attacks from German U-boats, and producing vehicles, weapons, and food to support the Allied war effort.

I cited several sources in the answer that I linked above, but for further reading I can recommend plenty of freely accessible material that will more than answer this and other questions:

I always recommend looking at the Official Histories produced by the Department of National Defence that cover various conflicts in Canadian military history. These histories are "official" in the sense that the historians were given access to all of the files and material that the Canadian government possessed on the subject. The history of the Second World War is covered in several volumes. The most fundamental in my opinion are the three that cover Canadian war policies and the actions of the Canadian army in Europe. These are The Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Volume I: Six Years of War by C.P. Stacey (1955); The Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Volume II: The Canadians in Italy, 1943-1945 by G.W.L. Nicholson (1956); and The Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Volume III: The Victory Campaign, Operations in Northwest Europe, 1944-1945 also by C.P. Stacey (1960). These volumes may be dated, but they are great for the "nuts and bolts" of who did what, when, and for other facts and figures. For a political narrative, see Arms, Men, and Governments: The War Policies of Canada, 1939-1945 again by C.P. Stacey (1970).

If you want shorter reads, the Canadian Encyclopedia is an online resource that has entries on many of the events, personalities, and concepts that made up the Canadian war effort. These entries provide a solid background, often provide recommendations for further reading, and are written and maintained by credible historians. Here is an example of something you might find relevant: a brief history of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), a major initiative wherein Allied pilots and air crew were trained in bases across the country before shipping out overseas.

Finally, Veteran's Affairs Canada has historical resources on its website as well. On this page you can find links to entries that cover many of the topics I have discussed here and in my other post. While not as detailed as the official histories, and lacking the sources and transparency of the Encyclopedia, they are still a good starting point in providing a basic outline of the war effort.

In addition to these sources, there is plenty of academic work that covers various specific topics - in greater detail and with more nuance than most of what I have cited above. Books and articles are being written every year that add more information to the wartime narrative, empower previously absent voices, and push the boundaries of our understanding. Just for one example, Paul Jackson studied the experience of LGBTQ people in the Canadian forces during the Second World War in a 2004 book titled One of the Boys: Homosexuality in the Military during World War II. These sources are invaluable for the insight they provide, but recommendations depend a lot more on what specific topics you are interested in! Feel free to PM me for specific topics and I'll see what I can find.

My recommendation is to start small, with the Encyclopedia entries or VAC fact sheets, and to then dig into the official histories or more recent scholarly work when you find a topic that piques your interest. Let me know how it goes!

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