First World War Internment Exhibit

Camps were set up mostly in Canada’s hinterland. Some were used for several months, while others operated through to 1920. In most camps, men were divided by ethnicity and by class. First Class prisoners were primarily German officers and their civilian equivalents. Second Class prisoners were mostly civilian enemy alien labourers from Austria-Hungary.

During the war, the government reduced the budget for national parks. Parks Commissioner J.B. Harkin therefore obtained permission to use enemy alien internees as low-cost labour. Four internment camps opened in Canada’s western national parks: at Banff, Jasper, Mount Revelstoke and Yoho. Internees did a variety of work, including constructing roads and clearing land. Through their labour, the internees played an important part in building Canada’s western national parks.

The internment camp in Banff was established at Castle Mountain in July 1915, then moved to Cave and Basin that November. Internees in Banff lived and worked in basic conditions, and there were many reports of rough treatment by guards. Some internees resisted, and escapes were common. The internment camp in Banff closed in July 1917. The remains of former sites of internment are few, but are a testament to this little-known episode in Canada’s history.