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1914-1945: Overview / War Years / Interwar Years / World War II / Changing Attitudes
War Years
An economic slump that had begun just before the war and that lasted until the war economy began to raise national production left immigrants in a precarious legal position. In the first year of the war, industries and businesses laid off considerable numbers of enemy alien employees. Many became public charges dependent upon the charitable aid provided by local municipalities. At the very same time, the war made their political standing uncertain as the government began to monitor their behaviour more carefully. Some 400,000 German, 100,000 Austro-Hungarian, 5,000 Turkish, and hundreds of Bulgarian enemy aliens then lived in Canada.
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The War Measures Act (WMA), 1914. Among other things, the WMA gave the federal government special powers to target immigrants who were deemed "enemy aliens" -- that is, newcomers who originated in one of the countries against which Canada and Britain were fighting: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, or Turkey |
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National Archives of Canada (PA-127064). |
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German Detainees at Edgewood Internment Camp, Edgewood, BC, ca. 1916. During the First World War, the government detained several thousand immigrants who came from enemy countries in internment camps. |
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