Eastern Forest Products Laboratory (Canada) : In 1913 the Forest Products Laboratories were established in Montreal in conjunction with McGill University. The Laboratories were organized into four divisions: Administration, which included the records office and library; Timber Physics Division, which dealt with the study of the physical and structural properties of wood, and methods of seasoning and handling; Timber Tests Division, which handled the testing of the mechanical properties of wood, such as strength, bending and elasticity; and Pulp and Paper Division, which carried out investigations of fibre of the different species of trees in Canada and their suitability for pulp and paper making, the methods of manufacture employed and the chemical agents used. The new Wood Preservation Division was organized within the Forest Products Laboratories in 1914. The scope of this Division included the study of wood preservatives and methods of treating wood to prolong the life of ties, paving blocks, piles, posts, piling, trestle timber, mine timber and structural timber in general. The original designation, Forest Products Laboratories, was changed to Forest Products Laboratory of Canada in 1915.
In 1929 four of the divisions of the Forest Products Laboratory of Montreal -- Timber Mechanics, Wood Preservation, Timber Physics and Timber Pathology -- were transferred to Ottawa. The Pulp and Paper Division remained in Montreal.
The Environmental Management Service was reorganized in 1974 to reflect strong regionalization. The Western Forest Products Laboratory was included in the Pacific and Yukon Region while the Eastern Forest Products Laboratory was assigned to the Ontario Region. All forestry institutes, together with the Petawawa Forest Experiment Station, operated under a newly appointed Director of National Forestry Institutes and functioned as part of the Quebec Region (Environment, Annual Report 1974-1975).
In 1979 legal and management responsibility for the Eastern and Western Forest Products Laboratories was transferred to the private sector under the auspices of the newly formed Forintek Canada Corporation. This change was short-lived as responsibility was later transferred back to the federal government. RG39 General Inventory
Environment, Annual Report 1974-1975
