High unemployment, newly arrived British immigrants and the promise of regular pay, along with pride, honour and glory, stimulated recruitment. Prime Minister Borden was committed to avoiding conscription and, as the numbers of volunteers swelled, it seemed that he would be able to keep to his word.

Poster production was generally financed locally appealing to the men to join their district battalions, that way they could be together with others they knew from their community.

Other posters were designed to simply shame men into doing their duty or targeted women who were asked to use their influence to get their men folk to the recruiting station.

Battalions were also created that encouraged men who had specialized skills to enlist. For example, the recruitment poster for the 224th Canadian Forestry Battalion appealed to those with logging and sawmill experience. In 1916 the British government requested that a forestry battalion be raised in Canada for overseas service, as forestry skills were in short supply in Britain and France. Over 1,600 men were recruited in 6 weeks, mainly from Eastern Ontario. The 224th, along with some other infantry battalions, was absorbed into the Canadian Forestry Corps in 1916. Their task was to clear airfields, prepare railway ties and produce lumber for the building of trenches, barracks and hospitals.

Posters appealed to various ethnic and religious groups and encouraged men of Irish and Scottish descent to join battalions made up of others from the same background such as the Scottish 236th Kilties Battalion or the Sportsman’s Company of the Irish Canadian Rangers.

Poster appeals were also made to French Canadians in an attempt to encourage their participation but recruitment in Quebec met with less success compared to the rest of the country. During the War, 257 infantry battalions were raised throughout Canada.

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