Castle Mountain Internment Camp

Castle Mountain Internment Camp in Banff National Park, Alberta, operated from July 13, 1915, to August 1917 as the largest internment site in the Canadian Rockies. Created under Canada’s 1914 War Measures Act, it confined 660 men classified as enemy aliens, many of them civilian immigrants largely of Ukrainian origin, along with people of Austrian, Hungarian, and German descent. Internees were used as forced labour on park infrastructure, especially the Banff highway toward Lake Louise, as well as bridges, culverts, fireguards, drainage, trails, quarrying, and repairs in Banff. Harsh conditions, abuse, frequent escapes, and official criticism made the camp a lasting symbol of Canada’s first national internment operations.

Alberta · Canada