During the
First World War, a growing sentiment against enemy aliens had manifested itself amongst Canadians. The British government urged Canada not to act indiscriminately against subject nationalities of
Austria-Hungary who were in fact friendly to the
British Empire. However, Ottawa took a hard line. These enemy-born citizens were treated as social pariahs, and many lost their employment. Under the 1914
War Measures Act, "aliens of enemy nationality" were compelled to register with authorities. About 70,000 Ukrainians from Austria-Hungary fell under this description. 8,579 males and some women and children were interned by the
Government of Canada, including 5,954 Austro-Hungarians, most of whom were probably ethnic
Ukrainians. Most of the 8,600 people interned were young men apprehended while trying to cross the border
into the United States to look for jobs; attempting to leave Canada was illegal. Most of the interned were poor or unemployed single men, although 81 women and 156 children (mainly Germans in
Vernon and Ukrainians at
Spirit Lake) had no choice but to accompany the men to two of the camps, in Spirit Lake, near
Amos, Quebec, and Vernon,
British Columbia. Some of the internees were Canadian-born and others were naturalized British subjects, although most were recent immigrants. Citizens of the
Russian Empire were generally not interned. , northern
Ontario , formerly "Eaton Siding" near the
Eaton Internment Camp, one of twenty-four, where 8,579 civilians were interned. It reads "Fortitude. To the memory of those who were interned at this site during the Great War. Eaton Internment Camp 1919." Many of these internees were used for
forced labour in internment camps. There was a severe shortage of farm labour, so in 1916–17 nearly all of the internees were "
paroled". Many parolees went to the custody of local farmers. They were paid at current wage rates, usually 20 cents per hour, with fifty cents a day deducted for room and board. Other parolees were sent as paid workers to railway gangs and mines. The internees turned over all their cash to authorities – $329,000 in total, of which $298,000 was returned to them on release.
Camps Conditions at the camps varied, and the
Castle Mountain Internment Camp – where labour contributed to the creation of
Banff National Park – was considered exceptionally harsh and abusive. The internment continued for two more years after the war had ended, although most Ukrainians were paroled into jobs for private companies by 1917. Even as parolees, they were still required to report regularly to the police authorities. Federal and provincial governments and private concerns benefited from the internees' labour and from the confiscation of what little wealth they had, a portion of which was left in the
Bank of Canada at the end of the internment operations on June 20, 1920. A small number of internees, including men considered to be "dangerous foreigners",
labour radicals, or particularly troublesome internees, were deported to Europe after the war, largely from the
Kapuskasing camp, which was the last to be shut down. Of those interned, 109 died of various diseases and injuries sustained in the camp, six were killed while trying to escape, and some – according to Major-General Sir
William Dillon Otter's final report – went insane or committed suicide as a result of their confinement. A list of the camps follows: ==Legacy==