German-Canadian Internment
Since Canada was at war with Germany, German-Canadians were considered enemy aliens and were interned. The population of interned Germans also included Prisoners of War (POWs). The number of POWs in custody increased as the war progressed. German internment was the only group that included military personnel.
In the first few years of the war, the internment of Germans was primarily civilians. Every German immigrant who had arrived in Canada after 1922 was required to register with Canadian authorities. Around 16,000 recent immigrants registered, but of them only a few hundred were arrested and interned. Most of the Germans detained on Canadian soil were connected to German-sponsored organizations or the Canadian Nazi Party. However, hundreds of Germans in Canada were accused of spying and subversion. Canada understood that many Germans had recently come to Canada to escape German policy and this resulted in a smaller population of German-Canadian civilian internees than other populations. Of the approximate 600,000 German-Canadian population during the war, only around 850 were interned. However, beginning in 1940, a large portion of Germans interned in Canada were originally detained in Britain and sent over to Canada, this included both POWs and civilians.
THIS IMAGE FROM 1944 IS OF A CAMP THAT HELD GERMAN POWS IN RIDING MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK. IMAGE FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.
As the war progressed many civilians were transferred to other camps or set free as the Canadian government no longer saw them as a national security threat. Their spots in camps were replaced by German military personnel captured and sent to Canada. This included POWs sent from Britain and over 700 German soldiers captured in East Asia.
Throughout the war, Canada interned various populations of people who were considered a risk to Canadian national security. People who came from belligerent enemy countries were deemed enemy aliens. However, this designation was also given to people with backgrounds in foreign countries who had actually been born in Canada. Internment was not unique to this conflict and was achieved through the suspension of civil rights during the invocation of the War Measures Act. During the First World War, Canada interned many groups of people including Austro-Hungarians, Germans, Ukrainians, and Turks. Ukrainian-Canadians remained interned until 1920. During the Second World War, the War Measures Act was enacted again and Canada interned Germans, Japanese, Italians, Jews, and Mennonites. Sometimes this included women and children. All the people interned were deemed to pose a threat to Canadian national security, either through their connection to an enemy country or their objections to the conflict. Many Jews fleeing Europe were interned upon their arrival in Canada. Many Canadian Mennonites were also interned due to their conscientious objections to the war.