This activity addresses the Kinmel Park Riots, which happened while soldiers were anxiously waiting to get back home after the war. In teams of two, students will read, analyze and answer questions based on an original article.

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 is based on an article first published on the Great Canadian War Project which addresses the Kinmel Park Riots from March 4 to 5 1919. The article can also be found on the ressource page. After reading the article, students, in teams of two, will read, analyze and answer a series of questions that can be found in the student guide.

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skills required by the Quebec Ministry of Education’s Secondary 4 curriculum by analyzing primary and secondary historical documents.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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Replica uniforms from the First World War

Get the chance to interact with our replica uniforms from the Great War! In addition to our travelling exhibits, we lend both a soldier’s and a nurse’s uniform so that students can picture how people dressed during wartime. The uniforms offer a small insight into the daily lives of the ordinary people who participated in this unprecedented event.

Document Analysis

In this activity, students will critically analyze primary source documents and establish facts by identifying differences and similarities concerning the Dieppe Raid and Canada’s tragic losses, in accordance with the provincial history course of the Quebec Education Program.

War Measures Act Debate

This activity consists of reading relevant excerpts from an article on the War Measures Act, accompanied by questions for students to answer. We then suggest topics for class discussion. The discussion topics encourage students to think critically about the events of the crisis and make connections to current events.