Timeline: Farnham Relocation Center

  • February 1942: Order-in-Council P.C. 1486 passed under the War Measures Act
  • October 1943: Proposal for the establishment of a “clearing-house” or “hostel” to house Japanese Canadians relocating to Montreal, Quebec, by the British Columbia Security Commission (BCSC)1
    • Establishment of additional clearing-houses or hostels in Ontario (Fingal and Summerville)2 and Manitoba (Transcona)3 proposed by the BCSC
    • Not all Japanese Canadians relocated to Quebec passed through the Farnham Hostel, and not all Japanese Canadians that lived in Farnham settled in Montreal
  • Spring 1946: Establishment of the Farnham Hostel in buildings previously used as a German POW camp by the Canadian Army4
    • Arrival of Japanese Canadians in Farnham, Quebec, begins as the internment camps in British Columbia are closed and dismantled
  • 1947: Dispersal of Japanese Canadians living in Farnham begins in preparation for the closure of the Farnham Hostel
  • March 1947: Six Japanese Canadian families purchased lots on Bedford Road outside of the municipality of Farnham to build homes5
    • Five other Japanese Canadian families remained in the Farnham area
  • November 1947: Closure of the Farnham Hostel6
  1. George Collins to Eastwood, Simmons and Booth, 7 October 1943, RG3627, box 32, folder 1959 “Quebec – Farnham Hostel and Surplus,” Japanese Division series, Department of Labour fonds, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON.  ↩︎
  2. R.H. Davidson to A. MacNamara, 16 August 1947, CA MUA MG4247, series 3, container 10, box 21, folder 3, Japanese Canadian History and Archives Committee of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal Collection, McGill University Archives, Montreal, QC. ↩︎
  3. J.F. MacKinnon to J.O. Beaudet, 1 November 1943, CA MUA MG4247, series 3, container 10, box 21, folder 3, Japanese Canadian History and Archives Committee of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal Collection, McGill University Archives, Montreal, QC. ↩︎
  4. J.O. Beaudet to H.T. Pammett, 8 August 1946, CA MUA MG4247, series 3, container 10, box 21, folder 3, Japanese Canadian History and Archives Committee of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal Collection, McGill University Archives, Montreal, QC. ↩︎
  5. Fred Aydon to J.F. MacKinnon and R.H. Davidson, 18 March 1947, LAC RG3627, box 32, folder 1959 “Quebec – Farnham Hostel and Surplus,” Japanese Division series, Department of Labour fonds, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON. ↩︎
  6. Unidentified to Maurice Halle, 14 November 1947, CA MUA MG4247, series 3, container 10, box 21, folder 3, Japanese Canadian History and Archives Committee of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal Collection, McGill University Archives, Montreal, QC. ↩︎