How did Louis Saint Laurent expand Canada’s welfare state?

Louis Saint Laurent, who served as Canada’s prime minister from 1948 to 1957, sought to develop the country by expanding social security and university education. His government’s efforts to strengthen the welfare state included initiatives to equalize provincial revenues and the establishment of a council to promote arts and letters.12

While Saint Laurent oversaw a significant expansion of social programs during his early years in office, his ability to further broaden these initiatives was eventually constrained. The intensification of the Cold War led to higher defense spending, which, alongside opposition from provincial governments, forced the Liberal administration to curtail plans for new social programs, such as national health insurance.32