The seminal Canada at War documentary film series was first broadcast on the CBC on April 3, 1962. Its 13 half-hour episodes were culled from more than 14,000,000 feet of film, mostly shot by Canadian Army cameramen during the Second World War but also including footage shot by German and British film crews. It took a team of editors three years to put the series together under the supervision of documentary filmmaker extraordinaire Donald Britain (who also wrote the commentary). It remains, to this day, one of the most important works on the Second World War.

Lesson plans to support learning about Canadian History.
Highlights:
- Treaties
- Treatment of minorities
- Expo '67
- World War I & II
- Gold Rush
- New France
- Historical Consequences
- Red River Settlement

During World War II, Charles “Checker” Tomkins fought the enemy with a different kind of weapon. As a code talker in the Canadian military, he used his knowledge of the native Cree language to help develop a top-secret communication system to defeat the Germans.

During the development of this Unit I wanted to give students a say in how they were
going to be assessed or how they would like to show me their learning in the form of
an ongoing project. We focused on the curriculum outcomes as well as criteria called
“The Big Six” in History 20. “The Big Six” criteria helped us to develop the leading
question as well as all subsequent project items to follow.
The project focuses on the significance of events, items, or persons during the First
World War and their lasting impact on society. Our Big Six focus was Historical
Significance and Evidence.

NFB films encompass a wide variety of war topics studied in both elementary and high schools. War is an important theme in Canadian and World Studies, Science, English Language Arts, History, Geography, Citizenship and the Arts. The films on this playlist make up only a fragment of the NFB’s remarkable collection of films on war and history. Educators are also encouraged to view other NFB titles apart from the films seen here should they wish to pursue a specialist path.