The phrase 10 awful Canadian might sound like an exaggeration, but the country’s past is dotted with policies that trampled basic freedoms. Below we dive into ten unsettling chapters that show Canada’s less‑than‑shining moments when it came to human rights.

10 Eugenics

Eugenics, once hailed as a scientific miracle for “improving” the human gene pool, found a chilling playground in Alberta during the early 20th century. In 1928 the province enacted the Sexual Sterilization Act, establishing a board that could force people about to leave mental institutions to undergo sterilisation as a condition of release. A 1937 amendment even allowed the state to sterilise “mental defectives” without their consent.

The board’s ruthless tenure stretched until 1972, during which it recommended sterilisation in 99 % of the 4,795 cases it reviewed – a staggering majority of women and Indigenous peoples. It was only after Premier Peter Lougheed’s government finally repealed the act that the board was disbanded. Politician David King famously declared the legislation a violation of fundamental rights, condemning the presumption that the state could decide who could reproduce.

Victim Leilani Muir sued Alberta in 1995, securing a $1 million payout. Her case sparked a wave of lawsuits, prompting public outrage when the province tried to cap claims at $150,000. The cap was scrapped within a day, and the government ultimately settled for an $80 million lump sum to compensate the survivors.

9 Slavery In Canada

While the United States often dominates discussions of North‑American bondage, Canada also participated in the slave trade, especially in New France (now Quebec). From 1671 to 1833 roughly 4,000 individuals—two‑thirds Indigenous and the rest African—were forced into servitude, purchased from overseas traders, exchanged between French and British colonists, or even captured and sold by rival Indigenous groups.

Most of these enslaved people were teenagers between 14 and 18, conscripted to serve the elite. Compared with American plantations, Canadian slaves sometimes endured marginally better conditions, yet they still suffered the loss of family, culture, and freedom. The Canadian economy’s reliance on the fur trade and a modest agricultural sector, rather than cotton, kept the slave market smaller than its southern neighbour, but the practice nonetheless left a scar on the nation’s conscience.

Because slaves were costly—an unskilled enslaved person could cost up to four times the average annual income—their numbers never swelled to the massive scale seen in the United States. Still, the existence of slavery in Canada is a reminder that the country’s history is not free from exploitation.

8 Concentration Camps During World War I

War‑time hysteria knows no borders, and Canada’s leaders fell prey to it during the First World War. Thousands of so‑called “enemy aliens”—largely Eastern Europeans such as Ukrainians, Poles, Italians, Russians, Turks, Jews, Austrians, and Romanians—were rounded up and shipped to remote internment camps across the country. Roughly 8,000 people endured the harsh reality of forced confinement.

Interned individuals had their possessions confiscated and were dispatched to the farthest corners of Canada to perform grueling labour—building railways, clearing forests, and mining. They were even forced to construct the very camps that housed them. Starvation, inadequate shelter, and endless monotony sparked riots, suicide attempts, and desperate escape plans.

Ironically, many Ukrainians remained loyal, enlisting under false identities to fight for Canada. Those discovered faced expulsion back to the camps. Even after the armistice, hundreds remained incarcerated as lingering suspicion persisted. To this day, the Canadian government has made scant effort to formally apologise or provide redress for this dark episode.

7 The Chinese Head Tax

Between 1881 and 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway leaned heavily on around 15,000 Chinese labourers to complete its trans‑continental line. The work was perilous, and many never saw the railway’s completion. After the tracks were laid, the government introduced a punitive “head tax” aimed solely at Chinese immigrants.

The levy began at $50 CAD in 1885, doubled to $100 in 1900, and skyrocketed to $500 in 1903—equivalent to two years’ wages in China. This discriminatory tax singled out one ethnic group, prompting many Chinese families to become permanently separated. By 1923 the government banned Chinese immigration outright; the ban lingered until its repeal in 1947, finally granting Chinese Canadians the same rights as other newcomers.

The tax’s legacy still haunts the community. Men already in Canada could not afford to bring over wives or children, leaving countless families fractured. Some never reunited, and many who stayed behind in China perished without support. Even today, many Chinese Canadians refer to Canada Day, July 1, 1923—the day the exclusion law was enacted—as “Humiliation Day.”

6 Residential Schools

From the late 1800s well into the 20th century, the Canadian government forced roughly 150,000 Indigenous children away from their families and placed them in residential schools. These institutions aimed to erase Indigenous cultures, imposing English language instruction, Christianity, and Western customs.

Life inside was brutal. Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse were rampant; children were punished for speaking their native tongues and often starved as part of so‑called “nutritional experiments.” Most attended school ten months a year and many never saw their families again, emerging as strangers in their own homes.

The last residential school finally closed in 1996. In 2007 the government issued a formal apology and launched a $1.9 billion compensation fund. By 2013, $1.6 billion had been paid to over 105,000 survivors, yet the intergenerational trauma endures.

5 The Genocide Of The Aboriginal Peoples

Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister and a figure celebrated on the $10 bill, also orchestrated a campaign of forced starvation against Indigenous peoples. His administration deliberately withheld food supplies until First Nations communities moved onto government‑designated reserves, then stored the rations in warehouses to rot, ensuring the people starved.

Macdonald’s legacy is a paradox: while he expanded voting rights for some Indigenous peoples, he simultaneously pursued policies that caused widespread famine and death. To many Canadians he remains a nation‑builder; to countless Indigenous families he is a symbol of oppression. Recent pressure from First Nations leaders has even drawn United Nations attention to these historic atrocities.

4 Detainment Of The Japanese During World War II

During the Second World War, Prime Minister Mackenzie King invoked the War Measures Act and ordered the internment of roughly 22,000 Japanese‑Canadians—most of them men—into “protective” camps that were little more than prison camps. These facilities, mainly in British Columbia’s interior, lacked electricity, running water, and adequate sanitation.

Inmates were forced into hard labour on sugar beet farms, road construction, and railway projects under near‑starvation conditions. Families were torn apart; men were separated from women and children, and the camps became sites of humiliation and hardship.

When the war ended, the government gave internees an impossible choice: relocate outside British Columbia or leave Canada entirely. About 4,000 chose exile, and none were permitted to return to the province until 1949. In 1998, the government formally apologized and offered $21,000 to each survivor, plus $12 million each for a community fund and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation—still viewed by many as insufficient.

3 Inuit Relocation

In the 1950s the federal government forced three Inuit communities—totaling 87 people—from their homes in northern Quebec to the far‑north Arctic settlements of Resolute and Grise Fiord, a staggering 1,200 km away. The promise was a two‑year trial period after which they could return, but the government reneged, leaving them stranded in a harsher climate with limited supplies.

Officially the move was justified as a solution to poor hunting conditions; critics suspect the real motive was to cement Canadian sovereignty over the high Arctic. Despite the extreme cold—temperatures up to 20 °C lower than their original homes—the relocated Inuit eventually forged thriving communities, now home to 229 and 141 residents respectively.

The government finally apologised in 1996, providing a $10 million settlement to aid reconstruction and healing. Two monuments now stand in each village, commemorating the ordeal endured by the Inuit and their descendants.

2 Language Laws In Quebec

Quebec’s linguistic battles have raged for decades. After centuries of English‑dominant rule, the province introduced Bill 63 in 1969, mandating that all schoolchildren and newcomers learn French. Bill 22 (1974) declared French the official language of Quebec, while Bill 101 (1977) extended that status to government and courts, forcing even inter‑provincial migrants into French‑only schools.

Anglophone groups fought back, achieving limited victories that eventually led to a bilingual compromise: English could be taught as a second language, and businesses could advertise in both languages provided French text was twice as large and placed prominently on building exteriors.

The controversy resurfaced in 1995 with a near‑split referendum on Quebec’s secession. In 2013 the Parti Québécois proposed Bill 14, which would have broadened Bill 101’s reach and stripped bilingual status from any city with less than a 50 % Anglophone population. The bill’s unpopularity ousted the party in 2014, but the language debate remains alive.

1 Women’s Suffrage In Quebec

While Canadian women secured the federal vote in 1919, Quebec lagged behind, refusing to extend the franchise until 1944. The fight was spearheaded by Therese Casgrain, who introduced thirteen suffrage bills between 1922 and 1939—each rejected amid opposition from men, the Catholic Church, and even some women.

It wasn’t until Liberal Premier Adélard Godbout took office that a new bill appeared in 1940. After a protracted, messy political battle, the legislation finally passed in 1944, allowing Quebec women to cast ballots for the first time. Yet it would be another seventeen years before a woman—Casgrain herself—sat in the Senate, appointed in 1970.

Therese Casgrain’s perseverance paved the way for future generations, reminding us that even in a nation famed for progress, the road to equality can be painstakingly slow.

When you think of Canada, you might picture friendly neighbors and maple syrup, but hidden beneath that polite veneer lies a roster of 10 badass Canadian warriors whose audacious actions against German foes turned the tide of wars.

10 Badass Canadian Heroes Who Changed the Battlefield

10 Ernest “Smokey” Smith

Ernest “Smokey” Smith earned a reputation as a true hell‑raiser, constantly irking his superiors to the point where he was promoted to corporal and then demoted back to private a staggering nine times. Yet when battle drums sounded, his ferocity shone through, cementing his place among Canada’s most celebrated soldiers.

In October 1944, the Allies were clawing their way through northern Italy, confronting stubborn German resistance. Smith’s small platoon was ordered to wade across the flooded Savio River to seize a vital beachhead. After the position was taken, a fierce German counter‑attack descended, sending three Panther tanks, self‑propelled artillery, and a swarm of infantry to retake the ground, pinning the Canadians near the river’s edge.

Without hesitation, Smith snatched his PIAT anti‑tank weapon and sprinted toward the first Panther, closing to within just ten metres (about thirty‑three feet) before delivering a single, decisive shot that knocked the tank out of action. The Germans, stunned by his boldness, then dispatched ten infantrymen to eliminate him. Undeterred, Smith brandished his Tommy gun, held his ground, and dispatched four of the attackers, forcing the rest to withdraw. He continued to protect a wounded comrade, compelling additional German troops to “withdraw in disorder,” and ultimately ferried his friend to safety. His platoon, galvanized by his example, managed to hold the line and secure the beachhead.

In a humorous twist, the army locked Smokey inside an Italian post office overnight to make sure the “wild man” didn’t disappear before being flown to London to meet the King and receive the Victoria Cross. Years later, Smith chuckled about his legend, saying, “Oh, yeah. I didn’t take orders. I didn’t believe in them.”

9 Leo Major

Leo Major’s saga reads like a Hollywood script that never got made. A French‑Canadian who fought in the Normandy landings, Leo first made a splash by seizing an armored vehicle brimming with critical communications gear, handing the Allies a priceless intelligence boon. He then single‑handedly eliminated a squad of elite SS troops, only to lose his left eye when a dying enemy ignited a phosphorus grenade. When doctors urged his evacuation, Leo retorted that he only needed one eye to aim, refusing to leave the front lines.

During a dawn reconnaissance at the Battle of the Scheldt, Leo spotted a German village where most soldiers were asleep. Instead of reporting back, he seized the moment, capturing the German commander, neutralizing a handful of troops, and prompting the entire company of ninety‑three men to surrender to him. He escorted the bewildered prisoners back to Allied lines, a feat that sounds almost too wild to be true.

Leo’s crowning achievement unfolded in April 1945 during the liberation of Zwolle, Netherlands. The plan was to bombard German positions with artillery until they capitulated. Sent on another recon mission, Leo paired up with a comrade named Willie. Realising that an artillery barrage would also claim civilian lives, the duo decided to liberate the town on their own. Tragedy struck when Willie was shot and killed around midnight. Enraged, Leo grabbed Willie’s weapon, eliminated two Germans, and forced the remainder to flee in terror.

He then commandeered a German vehicle, forced its driver to bring him to an enemy officer in a nearby tavern, and told the startled officer that a massive Canadian force surrounded the town and an attack was imminent. After delivering this bluff, Leo slipped out of the tavern and vanished into the night, only to spend the rest of the evening darting through Zwolle, gunning down Nazis and hurling grenades like a one‑man army. The sight of a lone Canadian, eyepatch‑clad and firing wildly, terrified the remaining German soldiers, many of whom surrendered.

By 4:00 a.m., the Germans abandoned Zwolle, the planned artillery barrage was called off, and the city was saved purely by Leo’s daring solo campaign. He earned numerous medals for his WWII exploits and added even more honors during the Korean War. Leo Major passed away in 2008, but his legend lives on in Zwolle, where he is revered as a true hero.

8 Tommy Prince

Born into the Brokenhead Ojibwa band, Tommy Prince rose to prominence at a time when Aboriginal Canadians still faced systemic discrimination. During World War II, Prince enlisted in the 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion, one of the first modern special‑forces units, undertaking perilous missions behind enemy lines—earning a reputation comparable to the fictional “Black Devils” of Tarantino’s imagination.

The unit’s training was grueling: stealth tactics, hand‑to‑hand combat, explosives, amphibious assaults, and alpine warfare. Prince’s specialty was forward scouting, observing enemy movements and striking fear into Axis troops, who dubbed the unit “the Black Devils” for their uncanny ability to infiltrate and silently eliminate targets. One officer recalled, “He moved like a shadow. Sometimes, instead of killing the Germans, he’d steal something from them. Other times, he’d slit their throats without a sound.”

One of Prince’s most daring stunts unfolded in Italy, 1944. Disguised as a farmer, he set up an observation post in an abandoned house a mere 200 metres (656 ft) from a German camp. He relayed enemy positions via a buried wire, enabling artillery strikes. When shelling damaged the wire, Prince calmly walked out in full view of the Germans, pretending to tend his field. He repaired the line while ostensibly tying his shoes, then defiantly shook his fist at both the Germans and the Allies, cementing his ruse. His cleverness led to the destruction of four artillery positions.

Not stopping there, Prince trekked 70 kilometres (43 mi) across rugged French terrain behind enemy lines, surviving three days without food or sleep. Upon locating a massive German camp, he guided his unit straight to it, resulting in the capture of over a thousand enemy soldiers. By war’s end, Prince stood among Canada’s most decorated soldiers and became a champion for Aboriginal rights, declaring, “All my life I wanted to do something to help my people recover their good name. I wanted to show they were as good as any white man.”

7 Frederick Hobson

In August 1917, during the relatively obscure Battle of Hill 70 outside Lens, France, the Canadian forces wrestled for control of a strategic high point. After the hill was seized, the Germans launched a ferocious counter‑attack on 18 August. Forty‑three‑year‑old Sergeant Frederick Hobson was ordered to defend a freshly captured German trench.

World I assaults were usually preceded by a brutal artillery barrage. By the time the bombardment ceased, Hobson’s unit lay decimated, and their sole remaining machine‑gun and its operator were buried in the mud. Seizing the moment, Hobson used a shovel to excavate the gunner and his weapon while under relentless enemy fire. Though wounded, he turned the machine‑gun on the advancing Germans until the gun jammed.

Rather than retreat, Hobson decided to buy the gunner precious seconds to fix the weapon. He sprang upright, charged the enemy with only his rifle, and fired until his ammunition ran dry. Then, wielding his bayonet, he slashed his way through, killing fourteen men in a final, heroic stand. He fell under a hail of bullets, but his sacrifice allowed the gunner to restore the machine‑gun, enabling reinforcements to hold the hill.

6 James Cleland Richardson

While most musicians aim to entertain, James Cleland Richardson wielded his bagpipes as a weapon of war. Enlisting in Canada’s 16th Infantry Battalion as a piper when World I erupted, he marched straight into the maelstrom of the Battle of the Somme.

On 8 October 1916, his battalion was ordered to go “over the top” and assault a fortified German position. This phrase meant climbing out of the trench and charging head‑on into a hail of bullets, artillery, and grenades—one of the most lethal tactics of the era. Amid heavy fire and barbed wire, the assault stalled and morale faltered. At that critical juncture, Richardson stepped forward, raised his bagpipes, and began playing while marching in full view of stunned German soldiers. His stirring music spurred his comrades to renew their attack and ultimately capture the enemy stronghold.

Later that day, while escorting a wounded comrade and several German prisoners, Richardson realized he had left his bagpipes behind. He turned back for his instrument, never to be seen again. His pipes remained lost until 2002, when a shattered set was discovered in Scotland and identified as his. They now reside on public display in Canada, a testament to his brave melody.

5 Charles Smith Rutherford

In 1918, Lieutenant Charles Smith Rutherford led an assault on a fortified town. Venturing ahead of his men, he encountered a sizable group of German soldiers defending a pillbox. Rather than retreat, Rutherford waved at the enemy—who, bewildered, returned the gesture. He then strode up to them, brandished his pistol, and boldly declared, “You men are my prisoners.” His confidence convinced the stunned German officers to order their troops to surrender, resulting in the capture of forty‑five men and three machine‑guns without a single shot fired.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Rutherford instructed a German officer to halt a nearby machine‑gun that was still firing on his advancing troops. When his men arrived, he led them in a second assault, seizing another pillbox and taking an additional thirty‑five German soldiers captive.

Rutherford later received the Victoria Cross for his daring deeds and served as a guard for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the Bahamas during World II. He lived to the age of ninety‑seven, becoming the last surviving Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross for World I actions.

4 Harcus Strachan

If you ever wondered what a death wish looks like, picture Lieutenant Harcus Strachan charging an entrenched German position on horseback, sword drawn, while a torrent of machine‑gun fire rattles around him. This was the reality for Canada’s Fort Garry Horse regiment during World I, one of the last cavalry units ever deployed.

On 20 November 1917, during the Battle of Cambrai, a Canadian cavalry squadron prepared to attack when their officer fell. Strachan immediately assumed command, leading 128 cavalrymen in a daring charge against a fortified German line. Despite confronting rows of machine‑guns and field artillery, his force dwindled to just forty‑three men by the time they reached the enemy. Strachan personally slew seven German gunners with his sword, securing the position for his squad.

Unfortunately, promised infantry and tank support never arrived, leaving the cavalry surrounded by German forces and low on ammunition. Thinking quickly, Strachan ordered his men to cut enemy telephone wires and release the remaining horses, creating a chaotic stampede toward the German machine‑gunners. The diversion allowed the Canadians to slip back to their own lines.

In total, Strachan’s squad killed roughly one hundred German soldiers and captured fifteen more, proving that sheer bravery and ingenuity could still outmatch superior technology. He later served in World II, rising to lieutenant colonel, and was honored with a mountain and a lake bearing his name.

3 Leo Clarke

In 1916, during the ferocious fighting near Pozières, France, Leo Clarke and his comrades were tasked with clearing the left flank of a freshly assaulted German trench. Clarke led his men into the trench but quickly found himself the sole survivor, surrounded by roughly twenty German infantrymen and two officers.

Armed only with a pistol, Clarke improvised, snatching rifles from fallen enemies and eventually using his own pistol to devastating effect. He managed to kill eighteen German soldiers, capture one, and force the remainder to flee, all while sustaining a bayonet wound.

Instead of being pulled back for his heroics, Clarke remained in the fight. A month later, an artillery shell detonated near his position, burying him under a mound of earth. Though his fellow soldiers dug him out, the crushing weight left him paralyzed, and he succumbed to his injuries a week later.

2 Hugh Cairns

After his brother Albert fell at the Battle of Cambrai, Sergeant Hugh Cairns swore vengeance, vowing to make the Germans pay. One comrade recalled Cairns saying, “I’ll get fifty Germans for that,” a promise he pursued with relentless fury.

During the assault on Valenciennes, Cairns’s platoon encountered fierce machine‑gun fire from an abandoned house. He stormed the building alone, killing the five Germans inside. Shortly thereafter, his unit faced an even stronger enemy post. Cairns seized his Lewis machine gun, advanced from the hip, and dispatched twelve German soldiers, prompting an additional eighteen to surrender. A chaplain later wrote, “He simply did not know what fear was and his skill with a machine gun could not be surpassed.”

The next German stronghold combined artillery and machine‑guns, manned by over fifty soldiers. When an officer suggested Cairns take only a few men, he instead led a five‑man team to outflank the position while the rest of his platoon kept the enemy occupied. After sustaining casualties, the Germans surrendered, yielding fifty prisoners, seven machine‑guns, three artillery pieces, and a trench mortar.

Tragically, Cairns was later shot while leading the capture of a group of sixty enemy soldiers. Even after suffering stomach and hand wounds, he continued firing, killing or wounding roughly thirty foes before succumbing to his injuries. His valiant actions helped the Canadians seize Valenciennes in a single day, with 80 Canadian dead and 300 wounded versus 800 German dead and 1,300 captured. Cairns received a posthumous Victoria Cross and became the first non‑commissioned officer to have a French street named after him.

1 Robert Spall

Robert Spall didn’t fit the Hollywood mold of a towering war hero—standing just 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) and working as a customs broker before the war. Yet when World I erupted, he volunteered for Canada’s 90th Battalion.

In October 1918, his platoon found itself isolated as German troops surged forward. Remaining in the trench meant certain death; fleeing was equally fatal. Sergeant Spall chose the brave, perilous path: he emerged into full view of the enemy, brandishing his Lewis machine gun and laying down a withering hail of fire that forced the Germans to halt their advance.

After emptying his magazine, Spall ordered his men to slip through a sap trench to safety, seized another Lewis gun, and continued firing until he was finally overwhelmed and killed. His selfless stand bought precious time for his comrades to escape, cementing the reputation of the Canadian forces as fearless and tenacious.

Life for the Inuit, the Indigenous peoples of Canada’s frosty Arctic, has never been a walk in the park. In fact, the 10 tragedies destroyed that have ripped apart their traditional way of life read like a tragic novel, each chapter more heartbreaking than the last.

How 10 Tragedies Destroyed the Inuit Way of Life

10 First Contact With Europeans Ended In A Kidnapping

When English explorer Martin Frobisher first set eyes on the Inuit, the encounter quickly turned sour. After a brief exchange, Frobisher seized three Inuit—a man, his wife, and their infant—dragging them aboard his vessel and ferrying them across the Atlantic to England.

Once in England, the captives were paraded as curiosities, forced to demonstrate their remarkable kayak‑building skills and hunting prowess for an eager, bewildered audience.

The Europeans held a starkly dismissive view of their captives, labeling them “savage people who fed only upon raw flesh.” Their written accounts abruptly note that the trio “died here within a month.”

Unaccustomed to European illnesses, the Inuit man fell gravely ill and passed away shortly after arrival. His wife succumbed a week later, and the infant followed soon after. Their brief burial record reads, “Burials in Anno 1577: Collichang, a heathen man, buried the 8th of November; Egnock, a heathen woman, buried the 13th of November.”

9 They Were Put In Human Zoos

By the nineteenth century, European curiosity had morphed into a grotesque spectacle: “human zoos.” Johan Adrian Jacobsen lured eight Inuit to Europe, where they began performing on October 15, 1880.

The troupe’s fate was grim. The youngest, a boy named Nuggasak, fell ill and died within two months of arrival.

Thirteen days later, Nuggasak’s mother also passed away. Jacobsen recorded the husband’s sorrow, noting his request to stay with his grieving wife— a request Jacobsen denied, insisting the show must continue.

Two days after the mother’s death, the father’s daughter became ill. Despite his pleas to remain with his dying child, Jacobsen forced the family onward to Paris, where the remaining five Inuit fell sick and were rushed to hospitals. By January 8, all five had perished.

Jacobsen’s diary chillingly admits, “Everything went so well in beginning… Should I be indirectly responsible for their deaths?”

8 An Entire Tribe Was Wiped Out

At the dawn of the twentieth century, European whalers encountered a distinct group known as the Sadlermiut, who inhabited three islands in Hudson Bay.

The Sadlermiut lived in stark isolation from neighboring Inuit, residing in stone houses rather than igloos, practicing a unique religion, and speaking a language of their own. Though they showed some cultural overlap, they maintained a separate identity.

Tragically, within just a few years, European‑borne diseases swept through the community. By 1903, every member of the Sadlermiut had succumbed, erasing an entire tribe from history.

7 The Canadian Government Gave The Inuit Numbers For Names

Early missionaries, unable or unwilling to master Inuit names, assigned biblical monikers such as “Noah” and “Jonah” to the people they encountered.

Soon after, the Canadian government instituted an identification system that replaced family surnames with numeric codes. These numbers doubled as last names on all official paperwork, and Inuit were compelled to wear the digits around their necks like dog tags.

By the 1940s, many Inuit were recorded as “Annie E7‑121” or similar. It wasn’t until 1978 that they were finally permitted to reclaim their ancestral names.

6 People Were Forcibly Moved Farther North

During the 1950s, the Canadian government launched a campaign dubbed “The Eskimo Problem,” promising Inuit a better life through relocation to supposedly richer hunting grounds.

In reality, families were shipped to remote outposts like Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay, where winter nights plunge to –40 °C (–40 °F) and darkness stretches for five months. The first year saw residents living in tents with inadequate food and supplies.

Hunting became far more arduous, and the government barred the Inuit from returning home for another 35 years. The true motive was geopolitical: cementing Canada’s Arctic claim against the USSR, as documented in official papers.

5 The RCMP Slaughtered Sled Dogs

Before the 1950s, many Inuit still survived by hunting with their trusted sled dogs. When the government forced mass relocations, it also imposed strict hunting quotas that were unsuitable for a subsistence lifestyle.

Undeterred, many Inuit kept hunting, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) intervened, claiming the dogs were dangerous. By the 1960s, the RCMP had killed thousands of sled dogs, effectively crippling the Inuit’s ability to travel and hunt.

Thomas Kublu, an Inuit elder, later reflected, “I never understood why they were shot. I wondered if it was because my hunting interfered with my work as a laborer.”

4 Children Were Separated From Their Parents

Once relocated to government‑created settlements, many Inuit families found themselves without local schools. As a result, children were taken away from their parents and sent to institutions in distant provinces.

Parents, fearing loss of government assistance, complied despite their own poverty and inability to hunt. In these southern schools, children were forced to speak English; those who whispered Inuktitut faced beatings.

When the children finally returned home, many could barely recall their cultural roots. One former student confessed, “I thought I was a Southerner. I didn’t want to come back. I didn’t like the tundra and the house.”

3 Children Were Abused

The residential schools that housed Inuit children were sites of unspeakable horror. Over 3,200 Indigenous youths died in these institutions, many due to systemic abuse and neglect.

Physical punishment was routine: children who spoke Inuktitut received “twenty slaps” on the desk, and those who failed to stand for the national anthem faced beatings.

Sexual abuse was rampant. Some Catholic priests coerced students into “touching their penis for candy,” while others recounted being thrown into icy showers after being raped. Government attempts to investigate were thwarted, allowing the abuse to continue unchecked.

2 Substance Abuse

Although the Indian Act originally prohibited Inuit alcohol consumption, the government lifted the ban in 1959—right after uprooting Inuit from their traditional lives.

Faced with a sudden cultural vacuum, boredom, and limited opportunities, many turned to liquor as an escape. One elder recalled, “Back then, the whole town would be drunk for a whole week. Everyone was hurting inside, not living as they should.”

This wave of alcoholism left deep scars, with many fearing that their grandchildren would inherit the same pain.

1 The New Cost Of Living Is Unbelievably Expensive

Today, progress has been made: the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement grants Inuit greater autonomy, and the Canadian government has issued formal apologies. Yet life in the North remains harsh.

Nunavut is the poorest Canadian territory, with 60 % of residents unable to afford basic groceries. The average Inuit earns only one‑third of the national average, while the cost of living soars due to permafrost‑driven reliance on imported food.

Recent photos reveal staggering prices: a cabbage costs $28.54, a slice of watermelon $13.09, a family‑size fried‑chicken bucket $61.99, and a 24‑pack of bottled water $104.99.

The lingering trauma is evident in mental‑health statistics: teenage Inuit boys face a suicide rate 40 times higher than the rest of Canada, a stark reminder that the cultural devastation continues to echo.

Canada is commonly ignored when contemplating the contributions of the Allies to victory in World War II, with most concentrating on the efforts of the US, Great Britain, the USSR, and China. The Canadian contribution was enormous, and this list of ten main contributions is barely scratching the surface. Prior to WWII, Canada, as a territory of the British Empire, relied on the Royal Navy to guard its ports and transport. When the struggle started the Royal Canadian Navy had only 7 warships. When the struggle ended Canada boasted the third largest fleet on the earth.

Canadian troops fought in a number of theaters with distinction while its naval commanders coordinated the large convoys which carried the instruments of struggle from North America to Great Britain and Europe. Its factories produced weapons, clothes, and tools. Its fields produced meals, its reserves of coal, iron, and oil helped gas the Allied effort to destroy Hitler and the imperialist Japanese. At the same time, Canada supplied refuge for the exiles of Europe, and securely housed the prisoners of struggle taken by its personal troops and people of the British Empire. Right here is only a small a part of Canada’s contribution to the Allied victory in World War II.

10. The Battle of the Atlantic

Of all of the operations of the European Theater throughout World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic was essentially the most vital to the success of the Allies. Ships carried weapons and autos, meals and clothes, medicines and provides, from the commercial bases of North and South America to Great Britain and the Soviet Union. To place it bluntly, whoever managed the ocean lanes of the Atlantic Ocean would win the struggle. Germany acknowledged this truth, and strove to shut the Atlantic to transport by their U-Boat offensive, by floor raiders early within the struggle, and thru bombing or in any other case destroying the port amenities of their enemies. They sank over 13.5 million tons of transport, not together with the 175 warships preventing to cease them, over the course of the struggle.

To defeat the Germans the Allies created the system of convoys to make sure the merchandise of the west reached the struggle zone. In addition to accountability for the vital port of Halifax, in addition to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, giant swathes of ocean traversed by convoys from New York, Boston, and different ports have been protected primarily by Canadian forces. Canada constructed dozens of small, quick, multi-purpose ships of a sort generally known as corvettes. Smaller than destroyers and manned largely by reservists, these ships patrolled the seas between the North American shoreline and Iceland, one of many favored searching grounds of the U-boats within the early years of the struggle. The Royal Canadian Navy was not restricted to operations within the North Atlantic; Canadian escorts accompanied coastal convoys so far as the South American ports collaborating within the struggle towards the Axis.

9. Fortification of the Atlantic Coast and Newfoundland

Newfoundland was self-governed, a British Dominion legally separate from Canada till 1934, and in a sensible sense remained impartial when the struggle started in 1939. In reality, possession of the territory of Labrador was a matter of dispute between Newfoundland and Canada in 1939. The struggle modified the connection. Each the UK and america acknowledged the strategic significance of Newfoundland early within the struggle, and the Bases for Destroyers Agreement of 1940 allowed the US to install military bases to protect the American coast, manned with American troops, and preserve American plane and ships. When the struggle started, Canada put in a navy presence of its personnel.

They labored collectively to make sure Newfoundland and Labrador turned ahead areas for the safety of the North American coast and importantly, the ocean lanes between it and the Iceland – Greenland Hole. The latter space, which incorporates the Denmark Strait, was vital to transport between North America and Europe. The Canadians constructed defenses which included airbases at Gander, Torbay, and Goose Bay, all of which supplied protection towards the German U-boat menace. About 6,000 Canadian troops occupied Newfoundland throughout the struggle, becoming a member of about 10,000 American allies.

Collectively, the People and Canadians ensured Newfoundland and Labrador remained in Allied arms, defending the port of Halifax and the St. Lawrence estuary from German assault. Occupation of Newfoundland by the Germans was a really actual menace in 1940, with the British powerless to cease it within the aftermath of the Dunkirk debacle and the US not but within the struggle. German bases in Newfoundland throughout the struggle isn’t a far-fetched thought. They established a weather monitoring station on the island early within the struggle, which neither the Canadians nor People have been capable of find for many years.

8. The Dieppe Raid: joint strike on Nazi controlled France in 1942

The 1942 Dieppe Raid (Operation Jubilee) was initially a British present. It was an assault on the French mainland, at all times supposed to withdraw after destroying some German amenities and infrastructure, fairly than to ascertain a second entrance in Europe. As such it was largely a commando-type operation, however fairly than assign it to commando troops, the British positioned accountability for the raid on their Canadian allies. It was primarily supposed to be a success and run operation; the Allies would land, supported by armored troops, seize the port of Dieppe, destroy it and help amenities, and withdraw again to the ocean from whence they got here.

Throughout rehearsals in Britain, mishap adopted mishap. Lord Mountbatten, ill-experienced for such an operation, commanded it and after reviewing the coaching operations and the issues they revealed British General Montgomery canceled the plan, up-to-then known as Operation Rutter. However Churchill appreciated it, because it indicated help of Stalin for a Second Entrance in Europe, and it went ahead. The operation was a catastrophe. The British lacked air superiority, so that they refused to danger capital ships for a pre-invasion shore bombardment (the Japanese, with air superiority, had not too long ago sunk two British capital ships off the Malay Peninsula). British intelligence of the touchdown areas was inaccurate and incomplete. The power dedicated was inadequate to overwhelm the defenses they encountered.

A bit of over 5,000 Canadian troops went ashore at Dieppe, encountering heavy German resistance from floor troops, artillery, and the Luftwaffe. Supported by about 1,000 British commandos they compelled their method inland, the place their items have been reduce to items by German resistance. The Canadians suffered about 3,300 killed and wounded, and practically 2,000 extra males have been captured by the Germans (casualty counts fluctuate by supply), a devastating casualty fee. Churchill known as the raid a hit, citing the teachings realized as key to the later victory at Normandy. In Canada it was and still is thought-about a disastrous instance of hubris, which value dearly, although the braveness and capabilities of the Canadian troops have been established past a doubt amongst each Allied and German leaders.

7. Feeding and arming the Allies

Throughout World War II, Canada, like its neighbor to the south and the South American allies even additional away, confronted the duty of feeding the Allies confronting Germany and Japan. On the identical time Canada wanted males, to workers its military, navy, and air forces, and to function the equipment which constructed the engines of struggle. The Canadians, just like the People, changed males in industrial jobs with ladies, liberating extra Canadians to put on the uniforms of their nation. With a a lot smaller inhabitants than US, Canada was compelled to take extra drastic actions. One step was lowering the age at which one may receive a driver’s license. Youthful drivers helped the transport pipeline, and freed extra adults for different duties.

Canadian shipyards produced hulls for cargo, in addition to warships for its quickly increasing navy. Plane have been produced beneath license from American and British producers. Canadian factories constructed tanks and vehicles, jeeps and ambulances, weapons and blankets, uniforms and footwear. Lumber was harvested, hewn, and hauled to factories. Fields produced grains and greens, orchards produced fruit, and the meatpacking business flourished. Canada, one of many world’s main wheat producers earlier than the struggle, was compelled to curtail that beneficial crop and as an alternative focus on rising coarser grains, essential to feed the cattle and hogs demanded by the warring allies. Canada’s farms rose to the problem, by 1944 they produced greater than twice the pre-war variety of hogs for slaughter.

Manufacturing of beef, of eggs and dairy merchandise, of greens and fruits, all rose correspondingly throughout the struggle years. Farm implements and equipment got here beneath rationing restrictions, and labor shortages on Canadian farms threatened manufacturing till interned Germans and Japanese have been put to work within the fields and processing crops. Later they have been supplemented by German and Italian prisoners of struggle, despatched to Canada throughout the battle. Canada’s agricultural production was one of the crucial vital contributions to victory in World War II.

6. Canadians took half within the invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943

The Anglo-American Allies started their floor struggle towards Nazi Germany with the landings in North Africa in late 1942. American, Free French, and British troops joined the British Expeditionary Military within the marketing campaign towards the Italians and Germans in North Africa, and by early 1943 they have been prepared to maneuver towards the continent of Europe. There was debate over find out how to accomplish that. Churchill wished an invasion of the Caucasus. The People most popular both southern France or Italy. Because it turned evident that Italy would win out because the Allied technique, starting with the capture of Sicily, Canadian Prime Minister William McKenzie King demanded Canadian troops be included within the lively forces engaged.

Though the Sicilian operation was beneath the general command of American Common Dwight Eisenhower, British forces fell beneath the command of Bernard Regulation Montgomery. Montgomery thought-about himself essentially the most skilled of the Allied commanders, and initially opposed the inclusion of Canadian troops, earlier than relenting and assigning them beneath his command as a part of XXX Corps, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.

Canadian operations in Sicily established them as front-line troops equal to their contemporaries in capabilities and preventing spirit. Following the German evacuation of Sicily the Allies invaded Italy in September, 1943; the identical day Italy surrendered. Canadian troops fought Germans and Italians compelled to proceed preventing by their German “Allies” in a few of the toughest fighting alongside the Italian boot. The Canadians fought in rugged mountain terrain, in winter mud which paralyzed tanks and autos, and in villages and cities in vicious city house-to-house fight. Regardless of heavy casualties and robust resistance by the Germans, in every single place they prevailed.

Canadian troops have been withdrawn from Italy in early 1945, wanted elsewhere on the Western Entrance. Throughout their engagement in the Italian Campaign the Canadians over 5,500 killed, and over 20,000 wounded, a casualty fee which exceeded 27%, serving as testimony to the robust resistance they encountered and their very own tenacity as front-line troops within the Allied forces in Europe.

5. Canadian troops have been murdered by German captors throughout the Normandy Invasion in 1944

The Normandy invasion, recognized to historical past as D-Day regardless of it being one among scores of “D-Days” initiated throughout the struggle, started on June 5, 1944 when Anglo-Franco-Pole-American troops parachuted into France. They have been adopted by the Allied landings on the Normandy seashores on the morning of June 6, 1944. British, American, and Canadian instructions attacked assigned seashores, supported by commandos from France, Poland, and different Allied nations. The People have been assigned Utah and Omaha Seashore as aims; the British Gold and Sword Seashores. The Canadians, with British help, have been assigned Juno Beach, situated between Gold and Sword.

In the course of the arduous preventing which occurred, some Canadian troops fell into the arms of their opponents, amongst them the 12th SS Division, a unit generally known as the “Hitler Youth’ Division. In keeping with survivors’ accounts over 150 surrendering Canadians have been executed by their German captors. Finally, two German officers have been charged with struggle crimes over the atrocities.

In fact, the aims of all of the troops collaborating within the seaborne landings of June 6, recognized to the Allies as Operation Neptune, was not merely to occupy the seashores however to grab vital factors by advancing inland. On the finish of the day’s main fight operations the Canadians advancing from Juno had reached additional inland than another Allied forces concerned within the invasion. Nonetheless, it was however the starting of arduous preventing which might engulf the Allies on the Western Entrance for the remainder of 1944, and into the spring of 1945.

4. The Battle of the Scheldt

In the course of the summer season of 1944 British troops beneath Montgomery seized the Belgian metropolis of Antwerp, which promised a serious boon for the Allies. Antwerp and its invaluable port facilities were seized, intact, by items of the Belgian Resistance in the summertime. In September they have been bolstered by the British 11th Armored Division. Antwerp was in Allied hands, its port prepared to offer badly wanted logistics to the advancing Allied armies, but it surely couldn’t, as but, be used. The Germans had mined the estuary, and established closely bolstered positions to defend it towards allied incursion. Till the estuary was cleared Antwerp was of no use to the Allies. Montgomery was ordered to make clearing the Scheldt his high precedence; he chose instead to concentrate on Operation Market Backyard and preparations for an assault into Germany’s Ruhr Valley. He assigned the opening of Boulogne, Calais, and different Channel ports to the Canadians.

Clearing the estuary, which had been fortified, with sections flooded and the waterways closely mined, fell to the Canadian First Military. Starting in mid-September Canadian troops, supplemented by some British items and Polish commandos, started the troublesome activity. The Canadians fought towards ready defensive positions and practically impassable terrain, struggling mounting casualties as they superior, slowly grinding down the German resistance. On Friday, October 13, the 5th Infantry Brigade, generally known as the ”Black Watch”, was nearly destroyed whereas making an attempt to flank a German place. Montgomery took the chance to criticize Eisenhower and nominate himself for command of all Allied floor forces the next day. Eisenhower responded that Montgomery’s refusal to obey orders was the reason for the debacle, and threatened to fireside him if the Scheldt was not made a high precedence.

Montgomery responded to his boss’s ire and dedicated extra troops to clearing the estuary on October 15. Regardless of the realignment of commitments, arduous preventing within the area continued into early November. Within the Battle of the Scheldt the Canadians suffered over 6,300 casualties, about half of the overall suffered by the Allied forces. The port of Antwerp, captured by the Belgians in early September, opened to be used by Allied transport on November 28. Montgomery’s actions and selections concerning Antwerp and Operation Market Backyard have remained controversial ever since. The Canadian contribution to clearing the Scheldt, one of the crucial troublesome operations of the land struggle in Europe, has lengthy been missed.

3. Canada housed enemy interns and prisoners of struggle all through World War II

Starting in North Africa, and all through the rest of the struggle, Italian and German troops surrendered to the British. German airmen fell from the skies throughout the Battle of Britain and in ensuing campaigns, likewise changing into prisoners of struggle. Great Britain had few amenities to accommodate them for a long run, and in an island beneath extreme restrictions little to feed and dress them with. Though senior prisoners have been typically retained and housed in British amenities (Latimer House was a well-liked location), by 1941 ships which delivered items from the Americas to Great Britain typically returned bearing prisoners of struggle. These captured by the British and Dominions’ troops went to Canada.

Sources differ, however between two dozen and forty particular person prison camps were established throughout Canada to accommodate prisoners from Germany, Italy, and Japan, although the overwhelming majority have been Germans. Sub-camps and labor camps additionally have been created, normally on a seasonal foundation to help work gangs and crews. The camps have been guarded by reserves of the Veteran Guards, for essentially the most half veterans of the First World War. Finally about 33,000 prisoners of struggle have been housed in Canada, over 400,000 remained in Great Britain. Regardless of the difficulties in feeding and housing them, the British elected to maintain them to make use of as a labor supply throughout the struggle. Labor was voluntary, and paid, although remuneration was a pittance.

Canada additionally served to accommodate interns, civilian nationals who have been in Dominion lands when the struggle was declared, corresponding to embassy personnel, information correspondents, businessmen and their households, and so forth. They got here beneath the auspices of the Worldwide Pink Cross, which ensured their well-being whereas in custody. Earlier than America entered the struggle, German prisoners entertained the thought of escaping to America, a impartial nation, and thru diplomatic machination to freedom. In a single escape, maybe apocryphal, a gaggle of Germans turned themselves in at Camp Ozada  after escaping, solely to encounter a Canadian Grizzly as they made their method to freedom. Although bears weren’t unusual in Germany, nothing just like the monstrous Grizzly lived there, and it undoubtedly gave them motive to rethink the wonders of the New World.

2. Royal Canadian Air Power (RCAF) bombing missions towards Nazi Germany

It’s a longstanding fantasy that precision aerial bombing was perfected by the Allies throughout the Second World War. The legendary Norden bombsight, which allegedly enabled such daylight bombing by the People, never achieved the level of accuracy marketed by its proponents. As a substitute the Allies relied on space bombing, destroying cities and cities in addition to the factories and infrastructure they supported. The devastating hearth raids of Dresden, Cologne, and Hamburg stand as testimony to this lengthy standing fantasy of WWII. The casualties suffered by the People, British, Free French, Poles, Norwegians, and different airmen over the course of the bombing campaigns have been horrendous.

Add to them the casualties suffered by the Canadians. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) operated inside RAF instructions till 1943, when the Canadian squadrons have been united to kind 6 RCAF Group, which continued to function beneath the management of the RAF’s Bomber Command. Finally 6 RCAF group consisted of 14 squadrons of heavy bombers, which flew missions each along with and individually from the RAF, as operational necessities dictated. As with their British cousins, casualties have been heavy all through the struggle.

Canada carried out coaching packages even earlier than hostilities commenced, making a pipeline of educated pilots, navigators, bombardiers, and air crew to the RAF, together with trainees from all through the Dominions. Its contribution to the air struggle thus exceeded the variety of its personal who flew in British (and American) plane in a wide range of roles, together with heavy bombing, tactical bombing, reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and shut air help. Canada misplaced over 8,000 airmen who died throughout the struggle, a part of the over 57,000 airmen who died serving the RAF Bomber Command, a fatality fee of over 46%.

1. Canada performed a serious function within the Manhattan Venture

The Manhattan Project is remembered (and broadly fictionalized) as the US’s super-secret effort to develop and ship an atomic bomb forward of the Germans and thus guarantee victory in WW II. Though it was highly-classified, it was not solely an American effort. In some vital areas, Canadian scientists have been really forward of Enrico Fermi within the growth of a uranium reactor in 1940. In 1942 joint British-Canadian analysis and growth work was underway in Canada. Info exchanges between Canadian, British, and American scientists and researchers continued all through the struggle, although many have been restricted as a consequence of safety restrictions imposed by all sides.

In 1943 the leaders of Great Britain, US, and Canada (Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and McKenzie King) met in Quebec. Full cooperation between the three powers was agreed upon. The next yr Common Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Venture, and British leaders together with James Chadwick agreed to assemble a heavy-water reactor utilizing the Canadian design. Canadian-British-American cooperation and shared analysis was a significant component within the growth of each nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, particularly the contribution of Canada, a fact too often ignored by historical past books.

At Quebec, Roosevelt and Churchill added nuclear analysis and weapons to the “particular relationship” between US and Great Britain, with Canada one of many British Dominions. Submit-war, Great Britain developed an atomic, and ultimately a thermonuclear weapon of its personal. Canada didn’t. Nevertheless, as of August 2022, 19 nuclear power plants in Canada generate about 15% of the nation’s electrical wants. Canada has from the start been a pacesetter within the growth of nuclear know-how, a truth practically a secret to many of the residents of its pleasant neighbor to the south.