There were 40 known prisoner-of-war camps across Canada during World War II. The camps were identified by letters at first, then by numbers. The prisoners were given various tasks; many worked in the forests as logging crews. In addition to the main camps there were branch camps and labour camps.
The largest number of prisoners of war was recorded as 33,798. (One source claims that at its peak, Canada interned 35,046 prisoners of war and Japanese-Canadians.) There were an additional 6,437 civil internees, members of the merchant marine and refugees.
There are claims that conditions in the Canadian camps tended to be better than average, and many times better than the conditions of the barracks that Canadian troops were kept in. It is believed by some that this treatment foiled many escape attempts before they even started. Notably, it is told that group of German prisoners returned to Ozada camp after escaping because of encountering a grizzly bear.
| Camp | Place | Province | Location | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Chatham | Ontario | 260 km southwest of Toronto | 1944 1945-1946 |
| 10 | Fingal | Ontario | 40 km south of London | 1945-1946 |
| 20 (C) | Gravenhurst | Ontario | 170 km north of Toronto | 1940-1946 |
| 21 (F) | Espanola | Ontario | 330 km NNW of Toronto | 1940-1943 |
| 22 (M) | Mimico | Ontario | 15 km west of Toronto | 1940-1944 |
| 23 (Q) | Monteith (near Iroquois Falls) | Ontario | 700 km north of Toronto | 1940-1946 |
| 30 | Bowmanville | Ontario | 65 km ENE of Toronto | 1941-1945 |
| 31 (F) | Kingston | Ontario | 145 km SSW of Ottawa | 1940-1943 |
| 32 (H) | Hull | Quebec | 10 km north of Ottawa | 1941-(?) |
| 33 (F) | Petawawa | Ontario | 130 km WNW of Ottawa | 1942-1946 |
| 40 (A) | Farnham | Quebec | 50 km ESE of Montreal | 1940-1941 1942-1943 1944-1946 |
| 42 (N) | Newington (Sherbrooke) | Quebec | 130 km east of Montreal | 1942-1946 |
| 44 | Feller College / Grande Ligne | Quebec | 275 km northeast of Montreal | 1943-1946 |
| 45 | Sorel | Quebec | 65 km NNE of Montreal | 1945-1946 |
| 70 (B) | Fredericton (Ripples) | New Brunswick | 20 km east of Fredericton | 1941-1945 |
| 100 (W) | Neys | Ontario | 1100 km northwest of Toronto | 1944-1943 1944-1946 |
| 101 | Angler | Ontario | 800 km northwest of Toronto | 1941-1946 |
| 130 | Seebe | Alberta | 100 km west of Calgary | 1939-1946 |
| 132 | Medicine Hat | Alberta | 260 km ESE of Calgary | 1943-1945 |
| 133 | Ozada | Alberta | 130 km west of Calgary | 1942 |
| 133 | Lethbridge | Alberta | 160 km southeast of Calgary | 1942-1946 |
| 135 | Wainwright | Alberta | 190 km ESE of Edmonton | 1945-1946 |
| (R) | Red Rock | Ontario | Lake Superior | 1940-1941 |
| N/A | Wainfleet | Ontario | Close to Port Colborne | 1943-1945 |
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“Every morning I woke in dread, waiting for the day nurse to go on her rounds and announce from the list of names in her hand whether or not I was for shock treatment, the new and fashionable means of quieting people and of making them realize that orders are to be obeyed and floors are to be polished without anyone protesting and faces are to be made to be fixed into smiles and weeping is a crime.”
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And list to the love of these,
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And he a winter breeze.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“To speak impartially, the best men that I know are not serene, a world in themselves. For the most part, they dwell in forms, and flatter and study effect only more finely than the rest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“This is not only a war of soldiers in uniform. It is a war of the people, of all the people, and it must be fought not only on the battlefield but in the cities and the villages, in the factories and on the farms, in the home and in the heart of every man, woman and child who loves freedom.”
—Arthur Wimperis (1874–1953)
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—Robertson Davies (b. 1913)