Enemy Aliens: Internment in Canada, 1914-1920

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Enemy Aliens: Internment in Canada, 1914–1920

Enemy Aliens: Internment in Canada, 1914–1920

This exhibition explores Canada’s internment operations that began during the First World War. 

“Enemy aliens” was a term used to describe citizens of states legally at war with the British Empire who resided in Canada during the war. Between 1914 and 1920, the federal government interned 8,579 people identified as enemy aliens in a network of 24 camps across Canada.

One hundred years later, using photographs drawn from Canadian archival collections, we reflect on the country’s first national internment operations and the experiences of the internees: who they were, the conditions they endured and the legacy they left.

This exhibition has been developed by the Canadian War Museum in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation.