• May 22, 1939


    Italy and Germany sign the Pact of Steel agreement promising to aid the other in the event of war.

    — Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering, Rudolph Hess and other members of the Nazi and Fascist Parties after the signing of the Pact of Steel in Berlin, Germany, Photographer Unknown, May 22, 1939, Library and Archives Canada / PA-114781

  • September 01, 1939


    Poland is invaded by Nazi Germany.
     

    Canada invokes the War Measures Act. First introduced during World War I, the Act gave the government unlimited powers to protect the state from any internal or external threats. This included banning subversive political organizations and suspending foreign-language newspapers. The Act also allowed for the internment of Canadian residents born in countries or empires at war with Canada.

    — A motorized detachment of the invading German army rides through a Polish town, badly battered from repeated bombings by the Luftwaffe, Acme Newsphotos, September 1939, Columbus Centre Collection

  • September 03, 1939


    France and the United Kingdom declare war against Germany.

    — Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King and members of the Cabinet broadcasting messages to the Canadian people following the special emergency Cabinet meeting following Great Britain’s declaration of war, Ottawa, ON, National Film Board, September 3, 1939, National Film Board of Canada / Phototheque / Library and Archives Canada / C-016770

  • September 10, 1939


    Canada formally declares war on Germany.
     

    Around 850 German-Canadians are interned and over 66,000 German and Austrian Canadians (naturalized citizens), who arrived in Canada after 1922, are forced to report to police regularly.

    — Headline from The London Free Press announcing Canada's war declaration, September 11, 1939, Columbus Centre Collection

  • December 18, 1939


    The first division of Canadian infantry to cross the Atlantic arrives in England.