Québec Citadel

Date Opened: September 1939
Date Closed: December 1939
Capacity: Unknown
Type of POW: Civilian Internees

Description:

Almost immediately following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) began arresting and detaining known and suspected enemy sympathizers across Canada. The Department of National Defence opened Camp K at Kananaskis to hold these internees but transferring them one at a time with a police or army escort from points across the country simply wasn’t feasible. The solution was the establishment of smaller receiving stations in major centres where internees were transferred from police to military custody and temporarily detained until they could be transferred Kananaskis in groups. The Quebec Citadel, centrally located and a military installation, thus became the primary receiving station for Eastern Quebec.

Mostly built between 1820 and 1832, the Quebec Citadel was the result of British efforts to fortify Quebec City in the case of an American attack following the War of 1812. Although such an attack never materialized, the Citadel remained an important military site through the 20th century and, in 1920, became the home of the Royal 22^e Régiment.

La Citadelle c.1900-1965, BAnQ Québec, Collection Magella Bureau 03Q,P547,S1,SS1,SSS1,D1-17.

The logistical challenges of transferring POWs from Eastern Canada to Alberta prompted the opening of a second internment camp, Camp P, at Petawawa but it was not going to ready until late September 1939. Instead, the Department of National Defence converted the Quebec Citadel Receiving Station as a temporary internment camp to house internees from Eastern Quebec and the Maritimes.

The use of the Quebec Citadel as a temporary internment camp proved short-lived as Camp P opened in late 1939. Although it continued to house some internees, the Department of National Defence closed the Quebec Citadel in December 1939 and transferred its internees to Petawawa.

The Quebec Citadel remained an important military installation during the war, serving as the home of the Royal 22^e Régiment, and hosted the First Quebec Conference (1943) and Second Quebec Conference (1944), both attended by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.