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Monday, April 28, 2025
 
 
During World War II, the War Measures Act was used again to intern Canadians, and 26 internment camps were set up across Canada. In 1940, an Order in Council was passed that defined enemy aliens as "all persons of German or Italian racial origin who have become naturalized British subjects since September 1, 1922". (At the time, Canada didn't grant passports and citizenship on its own, so immigrants were "naturalized" by becoming British subjects.)
 
Fascists and anti-fascists, naturalized or Canadian-born persons and newcomers, professionals and illiterates, wealthy business people and the unemployed were equally perceived as ‘enemy aliens’: one was an ‘enemy alien’ if his or her country of origin was at war with Britain and thus with Canada as well. The tens of thousands of Italians affected by such a traumatic experience felt, and rightly so, that they were being unjustly victimized. Even after more than half a century, that experience remains a painful scar for the entire community--even those not alive then. Wanting to erase it from their minds, many elderly Italians refuse to speak of those events; and those few who do speak say emphatically and with a trace of bitterness that they had nothing against Canada.( A Tangled Knot: Prelude to 10 June 1940, Angelo Principe, pg.42. Enemies Within, Toronto, 2000)
 
Italian citizens resident in Canada considered ‘enemy aliens’ were required to register and report periodically to the designated offices. 17,000 Italian Canadians were placed on ‘enemy alien’ lists. They were prohibited to leave Canada without permission, assemble in groups of five or more, or engage in activities against Canada. The prohibitions included all Italians naturalized after September 1922. In December 1942, the Italians who had been naturalized or asked for naturalization were included within the regulations for military conscription.
 
Whether they were Canadians or Italian citizens, those arrested and interned were classified as second-class prisoners of war. (The internment of Italian Canadians, Luigi Bruti Liberati, pg.83. Enemies Within, Toronto, 2000)
 
The historian Bruno Ramirez has described the trauma caused by the internment and the uncertainty about the future for an internee and his family in his book “The Italians in Canada” (Ottawa, Canadian Historical Society, l990).
 
Name
Place
Period
Capacity
Camp L
Cove Fields, Quebec
n/a
n/a
Camp R
Red Rock, Ontario, (Ft. William, Pt. Arthur)
n/a
n/a
Camp T
Three Rivers, Quebec
n/a
n/a
Camp V
Valcartier, Quebec
n/a
n/a
Camp 10
Chatham, Ontario
May 15, 1944 - Nov. 14, 1946
325
Camp 20
Gravenhurst, Ontario (Calydor)
Jul. 1940 - Jun. 11, 1946
400
Camp 21
Espanola, Ontario
Jul. 16, 1940 - Aug. 1943
1,200
Camp 22
Mimico, Ontario (New Toronto)
Jul. 19, 1940 - May 1, 1944
400
Camp 23
Monteith, Ontario
Jul. 16, 1940 - Dec. 1946
1,800
Camp 30
Bowmanville, Ontario
Nov. 1941- Apr. 12, 1945
750
Camp 31
Kingston, Ontario (Ft. Henry)
Jul. 1, 1940 - Nov. 16, 1943
600
Camp 32
Hull, Quebec
Aug. 20, 1941 - Sept. 15, 1942
100
Camp 33
Petawawa, Ontario
Sept. 23,1939 - Mar. 6, 1946
800
Camp 40
Farnharm, Quebec
Oct. 16, 1940 - May 22, 1946
700
Camp 41
Ile aux Noix, Quebec
Jul. 16, 1940 - Jul. 1, 1941
500
Camp 42
Sherbrooke, Quebec (Newington)
Oct.16, 1940 - Jul. 1, 1941
750
Camp 43
St. Helen’s Island, Quebec (Montreal)
Jul. 16, 1940 - Nov. 1943
300
Camp 44
Grande Ligne, Quebec
Fall 1942 - May, 1946
750
Camp 45
Sorel, Quebec
Jun. 30, 1945 - Mar. 1946
350
Camp 70
Fredericton, New Brunswick (Ripples)
Aug. 13, 1940 - Aug. 31, 1945
900
Camp 100
Neys, Ontario
Jan. 25, 1941 - Mar. 28, 1946
650
Camp 101
Angler, Ontario
Jan. 10, 1941 - ?
650
Camp 130
Kananaskis, Alberta (Seebe)
Sept. 29, 1939-Jan. 28, 1964
650
Camp 132
Medicine Hat, Alberta
Jan 1, 1943 - May 15, 1946
10,000
Camp 133 First: Ozada, Alberta (Seebe) May – Dec. 1942 10,000
Camp 133 Second: Lethbridge, Alberta Nov. 1942 - Dec. 18, 1946 12,500
Camp 135 Wainwright, Alberta Jan. 5, 1945 - Jun. 14, 1946 1,000
 
(David J. Carter, Behind Canadian Barbed Wire, 1980)
 
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