{"id":831,"date":"2026-01-21T20:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T20:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatwarcentre.com\/?p=831"},"modified":"2026-02-12T16:21:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:21:27","slug":"confined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatwarcentre.com\/fr\/confined\/","title":{"rendered":"Confin\u00e9s"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Exhibition<\/p><\/div>

Confined<\/div>
Reflections on Internment in Canada during the First World War<\/div>

Image: “13th Bn. men having a meal outside their dug-out. December, 1917” Canada. Dept. of National Defence\/Library and Archives Canada\/O-2332<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Otter Internment Camp, Yoho National Park B.C. 1916, Library and Archives Canada, C-081360<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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6 min<\/p><\/div><\/div>

The internment of enemy aliens in Canada under the War Measures Act<\/strong><\/span> ended officially in 1920, two years after the Armistice, but its legacy remained throughout the 20th century, with further internments in the Second World War, and the use of the War Measures Act during the FLQ Crisis of the 1970s.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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The Internees<\/p><\/div><\/div>

0<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Women<\/p><\/div><\/div>

0<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Children<\/p><\/div><\/div>

0<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Men<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Total in camps<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Civilians 65%<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Legitimate POWs 35%<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Detainees were defined at the time as<\/div><\/div>
5,954 Austro-Hungarians (Czechs, Slovaks, Ukrainians)<\/span><\/div>
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2,009 Germans<\/span><\/div>
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205 Turks (subjects of the Ottoman Empire)<\/p><\/div>

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99 Bulgarians<\/span><\/div>
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312 Miscellaneous<\/span><\/div>
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At the time, the definition of \u201cGerman\u201d or \u201cAustro-Hungarian\u201d covered a huge swathe of people who did not necessarily define themselves as ethnically German, Austrian, or Hungarian. <\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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\"Apart from the natural irritation consequent upon a deprivation of liberty, the general disposition of prisoners was philosophical acceptance of the situation<\/span><\/strong>, the policy adopter being that of humane treatment throughout.\"<\/span><\/div>

General William Otter, commander of internment operations 1914-1920 in Internment Operations 1914-1920<\/em>.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

85,000<\/p><\/div><\/div>

The number of civilians registered as \u2018Enemy Aliens\u2019<\/strong><\/span>, and thus not allowed to leave the country and forced to regularly report to designated authorities.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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On August 15th, 1914, Parliament passed the \u2018Proclamation Respecting Immigrants of German or Austro-Hungarian Nationality\u2019 allowing for the arrest of ethnic Germans and Austrians suspected of threatening National Security. The War Measures Act received the royal seal on the 22nd of August 1914. It granted the Borden government the power to essentially rule by decree, in the form of Orders-in-Council, and to suspend civil liberties in the name of national security.<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Deux prisonniers au camp d\u2019internement de Spirit Lake, en Abitibi (Qu\u00e9bec) [1914-1920], Library and Archives Canada, PA-170451<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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The Camps<\/p><\/div><\/div>

At their height, there were 24 internment facilities<\/strong><\/span> across Canada divided into two categories.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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