Dominion Provincial Youth Training Centre

1940s: Timeline

This time line consists of local, national, and international events relevant to the Canadian experience. It serves to contextualize the growth and evolution of VIU.

Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia Online

May 1940

  • Nanaimo's Civic Arena officially opened

1940

  • Canadian-American biochemist Martin Kamen discovered carbon-14, an isotope of carbon later used to date archaeological object

1940-1945

  • Camp Nanaimo, an army training camp was in operation at the site of present-day VIU from 1940-1945. At the end of the war the Vocational Training School occupied the facilities

Camp Nanaimo on Wakesiah Street, circa 1942
Image courtesy of Nanaimo Community Archives

Camp Nanaimo on Wakesiah Street, circa 1943
Image courtesy of Nanaimo Community Archives

June 1941

  • The census reported the population of Canada as 11,506,000

December 1941

  • Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, bringing the US into the Second World War

January 1942

  • The name "United Nations", coined by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was first used in the Declaration of United Nations of January 1, 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers

February 1942

  • Federal government announced that all people of Japanese origin living in the coastal regions of BC would be relocated to the BC interior or inland farming areas

May 1945

  • The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Rheims on May 7 and ratified at Berlin on May 8

June 1945

  • Canada joined the United Nations at its founding

January 1946

  • The once-famous schooner Bluenose hit a reef and sank off the coast of Haiti. The crew of 8 men was rescued

February 1947

  • Vern "Dry Hole" Hunter struck oil near Leduc, AB. The discovery ended a long decline in the Alberta oil industry, began an era of prosperity for the province and spared Canada dependence on foreign oil

February 1948

  • Against all odds, RCAF Flyers won the ice hockey Gold medal on an outdoor rink at the Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland

December 1948

  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was approved by the General Assembly of United Nations. It was drafted by Eleanor Roosevelt and Canadian law professor John Humphrey

March 1949

  • Newfoundland entered the Dominion of Canada as the 10th province

April 1949

  • Canada, along with 11 other countries, signed the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) marking a new era of economic ties with USA