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We see in this photo a British warship on the St. Lawrence River at anchor in front of Québec City. The Royal Navy was tasked with protecting Canada’s coasts. The Dominion of Canada's fleet during World War I was far less impressive than that of the United Kingdom. In 1914, the Dominion only had two obsolete cruisers and barely 350 sailors.
1899 - 1919

World War I parade

World War I broke out in 1914. Over 300,000 Canadians, mostly English-speaking, volunteered to fight overseas. The first contingent set sail for England on October 3, 1914. During the conflict, some 630,000 individuals enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. During this time in Quebec, the conscription crisis crystallized in 1917 with a deep rift in public opinion over Canadians’ involvement in the war. In all, over 61,000 soldiers lost their lives on the battlefields of Europe. Come and learn their story!

British warship in the St. Lawrence River

Samuel J. Jarvis We see in this photo a British warship on the St. Lawrence River at anchor in front of Québec City. The Royal Navy was tasked with protecting Canada’s coasts. The Dominion of Canada's fleet during World War I was far less impressive than that of the United Kingdom. In 1914, the Dominion only had two obsolete cruisers and barely 350 sailors.
Chronoscope Can you locate this vessel on the map? (unilingual French for a limited time) Source: Library and Archives Canada Document in the public domain (free of copyright) - Library and Archives Canada / Samuel J. Jarvis