From the Archives
Returning from the front

October 31, 2008

Armed Forces Community Apartments, U of S Archives Photograph Collection, A-3831

By Patrick Hayes, U of S Archives

In 1941, the Canadian government implemented the Post-Discharge Re-Establishment Order as a program to help returning soldiers integrate back into the general population. It was hoped that the chaotic discharge at the end of the First World War could be avoided. Part of the order was an education component where veterans were given financial incentives to return to school —all tuition and fees were paid by the Canadian government plus a monthly stipend.

Many of the returning veterans enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan in an accelerated entry program that began in January 1946. The first year of university could be completed by taking classes successively in the winter, inter- and summer sessions. The student population exploded with returning soldiers. In the fall of 1944, enrolment was 1,530; by 1946, it was 4,195.

The university acted quickly to accommodate the sudden influx. Some students with families were housed at the former RCAF training base near the Saskatoon airport. Accommodation for single female veterans was organized by the YWCA and located at the Badminton Club in downtown Saskatoon, which had served as a Canadian Women's Army Corps (C.W.A.C.) barracks during the war.