First World War Training at Sarcee Camp National Historic Event

The First World War training at Sarcee Camp was designated as a national historic event in 2025.

Historical importance: one of the country’s largest training camps established in 1915 on lands recently surrendered by the Tsuut’ina (Sarcee) First Nation, a longstanding legacy and an important site of remembrance to the 20th-century Canadian military.

Commemorative plaque: no plaque installed^{Footnote 1}

First World War Training at Sarcee Camp

Illustrating Canada’s commitment to prepare for the First World War, in 1915 the Canadian government established Sarcee Camp, one of the country’s largest military training camps, on lands recently surrendered by Tsuut’ina (Sarcee) First Nation near the City of Calgary in Alberta. First World War training at Sarcee Camp continued to 1918 and formed an integral part of the Canadian war effort, introducing more than 45,000 Canadians to military life before they were shipped overseas. Military training at this base also provides an example of the pressures faced by First Nations when lands that were part of their traditional territory and promised for their exclusive use were later coveted by the Canadian state for military purposes, leading to ongoing conflict. For Tsuut’ina Nation, whose former reserve lands were suddenly taken up as a training base in 1915, this is a longstanding legacy of Sarcee Camp. The stone markers depicting battalion numbers on nearby Signal Hill are tangible reminders of the hard labour of Canadian men in training for war and are an important site of remembrance. The longstanding military use of Sarcee Camp lands, where soldiers were trained again during the Second World War and the Cold War, exemplifies the importance of First World War training bases to the 20th-century Canadian military.

As a result of the Treaty 7 agreement of 1877, Tsuut’ina Nation chief Bullhead (known as Chula, Little Chief, and Stamixo’tokan) and his people moved onto a reserve of 283 km2 just southwest of Calgary in 1883. Here they began the difficult transition to a new way of life. Settlers soon tried to acquire Tsuut’ina reserve lands and in the early 20th century Canada’s expanding militia also sought them as training grounds. Tsuut’ina granted the Department of Militia and Defence access for summer training camps in 1910 and 1911. Bullhead opposed any sale of reserve lands but after his death in 1911 Tsuut’ina members consented to surrender around 7 km2 of the northeast portion of their reserve in 1913. Limited military activities continued there before the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.

Once the significant manpower demands of the war became evident, the government rapidly constructed regional training camps across the country to prepare Canadians for military service. As the only major First World War training camp in Alberta, Sarcee Camp played a significant role in mobilizing Canadian reinforcements to replace the tremendous casualties on the Western Front. In the spring of 1915 the militia rapidly constructed roads, utilities, headquarters huts, and rifle ranges. Battalion camps with neat rows of bell tents could accommodate up to 15,000 soldiers. Training involved route marches and military drills, and small arms practice with rifles, bayonets, and grenades. Soldiers also learned the basics of military signals and map reading. As a part of regimental tasks and training, soldiers from Sarcee Camp constructed large-scale rock markers depicting their battalion numbers by placing stones on a nearby hillside. One original rock numeral and several other recreated numbers are still found nearby today at Calgary’s Battalion Park. Following weeks or months of training, soldiers travelled to England for more preparation before facing combat.

 

Following the war, the military further developed Sarcee Camp and used 44.7 km2 of adjacent firing ranges and manoeuvre grounds on the reserve for training. In 1951 the Department of National Defence obtained the Sarcee Camp land from the Crown and developed Sarcee (Harvey) Barracks on the site. However, Tsuut’ina Nation’s growing interest in the agricultural potential of the lands conflicted with increased military investment, and Tsuut’ina asserted that they did not receive fair compensation from the sale and lease of reserve lands. They demanded that the military remediate the lands and remove unexploded ordnance. In the 1990s the military base at Calgary was closed and training ended on the Tsuut’ina lands, which were returned for the use of the First Nation.

This press backgrounder was prepared at the time of the Ministerial announcement in 2025.

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