Returning

Banquets in honour of returning servicemen and servicewomen were common in Canada in 1946, just as they had been in 1919.

Sir George Foster, the subject of this caricature by an Italian artist, was one of Canada's senior delegates to the Paris Peace Conference after the First World War.

In preparation for the demobilization of Canadians in uniform after the Second World War, the city of Victoria established a Citizens Rehabilitation Council to help them with the practical problems of returning to civilian life.

This card, giving to a Canadian soldier returning home after the First World War, gave him a six-month membership at any YMCA in Canada.

This adaption of the popular song "Home, Sweet Home" was probably performed for soldiers returning to Canada in 1918 and 1919 through Quebec City.

To address one of the most pressing demands of Great War veterans, the Canadian government during the Second World War passed the War Service Grants Act, which gave all veterans a lump sum cash payment based on their length and place of service, rank, and family size.

As Canadians returned home from overseas after the Second World War, most communities devoted considerable effort to organizing homecoming ceremonies - including the distribution of cards of thanks such as this one.

An offshoot of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, the CRA (under its president Sir John Willison) changed its focus towards the end of the First World War and focusing on taking advantage of the transition to peacetime to advocate for stimulus in pursuit of economic development.

In this address, Rowell surveyed the work of the Union Government in managing Canada's transition from war to peace, including the demobilization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and provisions for veterans.

This YMCA pamphlet offered Canadian soldiers a lesson, albeit a belated one, on the dangers of prostitutes and sexually-transmitted diseases, and offered a warning to soldiers who might be returning to Canada "bearing the dishonorable marks of Venereal Disease."