50 Cents Kananaskis Camp

Kananaskis Camp 130, located in Alberta, held German prisoners of war — primarily officers and non-commissioned officers — transferred from Britain under the Anglo-Canadian POW arrangement. By 1946, the war was over but repatriation was proceeding slowly, and internal camp scrip continued to function as a controlled medium of exchange within the compound canteen economy. Issuing scrip prevented prisoners from accumulating Canadian currency, which could theoretically fund escape attempts or black-market dealings with civilian contractors.

The 1946 date places this note in the postwar holding period, when Camp 130's population was winding down ahead of final repatriation to Germany. Notes from this terminal phase are scarcer than wartime issues simply because fewer were printed and accounting controls had loosened.