To keep the prisoners busy, and to cut the cost of maintenance,
various infrastructure and land development projects were worked on by the internees.
Provinces took advantage of this cheap labour, paid at half the price of Canadian-born workers, to clear and render accessible their underdeveloped hinterlands.
At the present time the Dominion Government has a large number of prisoners of war, whose labor it is anxious to utilize. Accordingly, arrangements are being made to set these prisoners to work at once in clearing up the land for the proposed experimental farm, so that it will be ready for cultivation next season.
These projects involved forestry, mining, land clearing for agriculture and other labour-intensive activities. Ontario expanded agricultural land to the West, British Columbia developed roads into the Rocky Mountains, and Quebec attempted to develop the Abitibi region. A golf course in Banff National Park was completed usinginterned labour.
Otter Internment Camp, Yoho National Park B.C. 1916, Library and Archives Canada, C-081360
By 1916, labour shortages became so acute that the Canadian Government sent internees to work in factories, resulting in 75% of the camps being shut down, including one of the largest in Spirit Lake, Quebec. These Enemy Aliens were released, usually to work in mines or in the railroad industry, provided they sign a parole document demanding loyalty, adherence to the law, and periodical reports to the nearest police authority.
Our mission is to preserve, protect and archive artifacts related to the Canadian experience of the First World War and to inform Canadians of the same. We do not attempt to highlight the large historical events of the war, but rather present personalized narratives of the many experiences that touched Canadians during this period.
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