Around this time Rosemary and three friends drove across Canada on the Trans Canada Highway from Ottawa to British Columbia, camping, exploring and photographing along the way. During the mid 1950s she was busy with photographic assignments in central and western Canada, travelling into the northern parts of the prairie provinces and the subarctic. In March of 1956, she travelled with British author and broadcaster, Peter Ritchie Calder, to several Hudson Bay posts around Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan. In 1957, she photographed an Inuit beluga whale hunt near Aklavik, and a summer reindeer round-up at Richard Island, Ungava (the Richard Island Reindeer Station herds were previously imported from Lappland). It was a very busy time. The topics Rosemary covered were many and wide-ranging; the chronology and sequence of events as gleaned from records defy description. She also made at least one trip back to Europe at some point during this period, probably more, and managed to capture photo stories along the way, including a delightful sequence about Gerald Durrell and his Jersey Island Zoo.

Her work for the Department of Northern Affairs, National Film Board, etc., as well as for The Beaver, had Rosemary documenting a fascinating variety of subject matter and travelling over a wide range of territory. She spent quite a bit of time taking photos for government programs whose objectives were to bring aboriginal populations into line, implemented by the efforts of a hardy group of well-meaning teachers, doctors, nurses and others. At the time, it was generally believed that this work improved the lot of those we now refer to as First Nations and although in many instances it did, in hindsight, there was a lot to be learned. The front line of educators and health care workers, however, were usually hard working and dedicated. Most of those she met were the subjects of her photo stories and she generally held them in high regard. Her photos illustrate programs introducing young aboriginals to new skills intended to equip them for lives and careers in the mainstream, away from their traditional ways of life.

Rosemary was actually more interested in their traditional lives and tried to learn as much as she could about the older ways and beliefs. As usual, she empathized with her aboriginal subjects and tried to reflect individual personalities, record native names, and give meaning and value to the stories of their lives. Typically, the approach to recording northern activities had been to lump the aboriginals anonymously as 'Indians' or 'Eskimos' - a supporting cast for the exploits and achievements of the featured outsiders. Rosemary instinctively understood the aboriginals' close ties with the land and its wildlife and accepted what she saw for what it was, even though some aspects such as the hard lives of the dogs bothered her. She recorded her personal impressions privately, in her extensive diaries.