Ukrainian Canadians: Internment and Memory on the Prairies

Canada’s First World War internment operations disproportionately affected people of Ukrainian descent. Between 1914 and 1920, authorities interned 8,579 people, the majority of them of Ukrainian origin. For anyone exploring Ukrainian history in Winnipeg and across the Prairies, this national history provides essential context: alongside questions about settlement and belonging stands the question of how wartime Canada treated people it classified as outsiders.

The figures require care. The total of 8,579 covers all those interned under these operations, not Ukrainians alone. Nor were all internees prisoners of war. Understanding those distinctions helps preserve the experiences of civilians without turning a national total into an inaccurate ethnic count.

How Ukrainian immigrants became “enemy aliens”

In August 1914, the Canadian government enacted the War Measures Act. Its sweeping powers allowed authorities to suspend or limit civil liberties in the name of protecting Canada, including by incarcerating people designated as “enemy aliens.”

That term referred to citizens of states legally at war with Canada who were living in Canada during the conflict. It was a category tied to citizenship, not proof that an individual had committed sabotage or another hostile act.

The distinction was especially consequential for Ukrainians. Ukraine was then divided between the Russian Empire, a Canadian ally, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, an enemy of the British Empire. Ukrainian origin therefore did not correspond to one citizenship or one wartime classification. As the Canadian War Museum explains, people of Ukrainian descent formed the majority of those interned.

Internment continued from 1914 to 1920

Canada’s internment operations lasted from 1914 until 1920, extending beyond the end of the fighting in 1918. Sir William D. Otter commanded the operation of the camps, many of which were rural and remote.

Of the 8,579 people interned, Otter classified 3,138 as prisoners of war. The remainder were civilians. These categories matter because the word “camp” can otherwise suggest that everyone held there was a captured combatant. The museum’s account makes clear that civilian detention was a substantial part of the system.

These are Canada-wide figures. They should not be presented as totals for Winnipeg, Manitoba or the Prairie provinces. Reading the regional story within its national setting makes it possible to acknowledge the scale of the operations without assigning unsupported numbers to a particular community.

Restrictions reached beyond the camps

Internment was only one form of wartime restriction. Another 80,000 people classified as “enemy aliens,” again mostly Ukrainians, were required to carry identity papers and report regularly to local police offices.

Their experience was different from confinement in a camp, but it also placed civilian life under official scrutiny. The two figures describe different measures: 8,579 people interned, and another 80,000 subjected to identification and reporting requirements. Neither should be used as a count of Ukrainians alone.

The museum’s account also records that interned Canadians were disenfranchised during the war. The consequences therefore involved more than physical detention. They included restrictions on civic participation and a broader system of surveillance directed largely at people of Ukrainian descent.

Labour, confiscation and the question of loyalty

The government frequently used internees on large labour projects. These included the development of Banff National Park, as well as mining and logging operations. Internees had much of their wealth confiscated, and most received pay of just $0.25 a day, far below the wages offered to labourers at the time.

These details connect the legal history to its material consequences: confinement, loss of wealth and poorly paid labour. They also challenge any simple picture of internment as merely a precautionary administrative measure.

The Canadian War Museum identifies wartime fervour and xenophobic fear, rather than actual attacks on Canada’s domestic war effort, as the main drivers of the policy. It notes that no serious threats materialized. For Ukrainian Canadians, the resulting harm included a lingering suggestion of widespread disloyalty, not just the immediate restrictions imposed during the war.

Community advocacy and recognition in 2005

In November 2005, following a long grassroots campaign by the Ukrainian community, Bill C-331 recognized the First World War internment of Ukrainian Canadians and called for a negotiated settlement between the government and community members. This recognition did not erase the experience, but it marked an important step in its public acknowledgement.

For readers connecting Winnipeg and the Prairies with the wider Ukrainian Canadian story, careful remembrance means keeping citizenship, ancestry and individual conduct distinct. It also means recognizing the community’s role in seeking acknowledgement. The Canadian War Museum’s overview offers a starting point for that history.

To connect with Ukrainian community life today, find Ukrainian businesses and community services through Ukrainian Pages.