The First World War was an important event in the development of Canada’s identity. However, it obviously came with its share of difficulties for the population. In this activity, students will examine the internal challenges facing Canada’s population after the war. Working in groups, students will conduct research, present it to the class, and write an original essay based on a series of topics.

This activity was first designed to accompany our travelling exhibition Regiments on the Ridge. The exhibition is available for free to your school by completing our reservation form. It should be noted that in 2025, we released a new version of our virtual exhibition, now entitled Mobilizing a Country: Canada and the First World War. The latter is also suitable for this activity.

Activity content

This activity consists of three parts (all optional of course) whicn can be found in the student guide. For the first part, the teacher can split the class into teams of 2 to 3 students and assigning each group a topic from the list below:

• Women and the Right to Vote (in Quebec and in the rest of Canada)
• Workers’ Rights
• “Shell Shock” after WWI, today known as “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD).
• Spanish Influenza and its consequences for Canadians
• The Canadian Legion: its creation and its role
• Veterans’ Affairs: its creation, its role and its pensions for veterans
• The legacy of the Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR) and its role in the community after World War I

Each teams will then research and present their topic to the class. In the second part, students will fill in a fact sheet as they listen to the presentations. Finally, in the third part of the activity, students may use the information gathered in the previous part to write a reflective essay linked to one of the aforementioned topic.

Please note that there is no need to print the provided student guide, as it can now be completed directly from your computer! To use the fillable function, be sure to download the PDF and use the appropriate software.

Activity objectives

The goal of these activities is to allow secondary cycle two students to have a greater understanding of World War I and Canada and Quebec’s role in the conflict. More specifically, this activity serves to better understand the importance and impact of the Treaty of Versailles in the 20th century history.

Through this activity, students will practice the intellectual skills required by the Quebec Ministry of Education’s Secondary 4 curriculum by analyzing primary and secondary historical documents. More specifically, this activity is part of the “First World War” section of the Quebec school curriculum. Finally, students will also develop their knowledge of Quebec and Canadian history through the competencies promoted by the Quebec Education Program:

• Characterizes a period in the history of Québec and Canada
• Interprets a social phenomenon

This activity is also suitable for secondary 5 students and the 20th century history course through the following competencies:

• Characterizes a historical turning point
• Interprets a social phenomenon using the historical method

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