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CA-K243History

The Examination Unit, Canada’s wartime codebreakers

Laurier House in Ottawa, Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s home, next to which the unit worked from 1942 to 1945; photographed in 2014.
Laurier House in Ottawa, Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s home, next to which the unit worked from 1942 to 1945; photographed in 2014. Laurier House, Ottawa · Suwannee.payne · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.
Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

No recorded challenge is not proof of accuracy. A challenge under review is not a finding that the item is false.

The Examination Unit (1941–1945) was Canada’s secret civilian cryptographic bureau in the Second World War, working within the National Research Council; women made up about 40% of its staff. It helped the Allies decrypt French, German and Japanese messages and paved the way for the Communications Security Establishment, founded in 1975.

Scope & context

The unit’s wartime work, not later Canadian signals intelligence.

Sources behind this record

1
The Examination Unit (1941–1945) National Historic Event ↗

Parks Canada

Historical importance; plaque text