Canada. Manpower Division : The Unemployment Insurance Act of 1940 made employment services a solely federal responsibility. From 1942 to 1946, the National Employment Service (NES) of the Unemployment Insurance Commission was part of the Department of Labour, where it became known as the National Selective Service. At that time, the Service was responsible for registering every employable person in Canada so that the country's manpower supplies could be assessed and better utilized for the war effort. After the War the NES was returned to the Unemployment Insurance Commission, where it remained until 1965. In that year it was returned to the Department of Labour. From Labour, it was transferred to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration for ten months as a stop-gap measure while the re-organization of the government's employment and immigration functions progressed. With the dissolution of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration in October 1966, the Canada Manpower Division passed to the newly-created Department of Manpower and Immigration (S.C. 1966, C. 25). In 1977 it was passed again to the newly-created Employment and Immigration Canada (25-26 Elizabeth II, C. 54). At that time, it split into two operating divisions, Employment Services and Labour Market Services (later the Canadian Jobs Strategy Group).
The basic mandate of the Manpower branch remained stable throughout these administrative changes. It provided services to employers and employees in matching jobs with workers, and undertook various employment programs and labour market studies. In addition to its headquarters in Ottawa, the Branch was represented in regional and district offices, as well as in hundreds of employment and immigration centres located throughout the country. For additional information regarding the functions of the Manpower Branch, researchers should consult the administrative histories for the Department of Labour Fonds, Department of Employment and Immigration Fonds, Unemployment Insurance Commission Fonds, The Canada Employment and Immigration Advisory Council Fonds, and the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission Sous-Fonds.
