Allied War Supplies Corporation (Canada) : The Allied War Supplies Corporation was a Crown Corporation authorized under the Munitions and Supply Act, 1939 (3 George IV Ch.4), to facilitate the production of explosives and chemicals in Canada during the Second World War. The corporation was incorporated on 23 July 1940, a time when the allied forces were in desperate need for all forms of munitions. To meet this objective Allied War Supplies Corporation administered, directed and supervised the construction of plants producing a range of chemicals and explosives required for the war effort.
The corporation was situated in Montreal where it worked in conjunction with the Chemical and Explosives Branch of the Department of Munitions and Supply. Once a requirement had been identified for the production of a particular chemical, the corporation moved to identify contractors for the design and building of the plant. There were a number of cases where the corporation oversaw the expansion of existing privately owned plants for wartime production. However, in the majority of cases the plants constructed for Allied War Supplies were government owned. The siting of plants was conducted in conjunction with the Canadian National Railway, whose property offices carried out appropriation or expropriation of property on behalf of the crown. The actual construction work was done by private companies, most often Defence Industries Limited, a special wartime subsidiary of Canadian Industries Limited, (C.I.L.). By the end of the war Allied War Supplies Corporation had directed the construction or expansion of 48 plants, producing a range of explosives, chemicals and chemical warfare agents.
The Allied War Supplies Corporation final activities involved the closing down and decommissioning of the 40 plants which were under its direct control. In April 1946 the records of the corporation were transferred to the Department of Reconstruction and Supply, and with a resolution of the corporation's Board of Directors on 10 April 1946, the Allied War Supplies Corporation ceased operations.
For further published information on Allied War Supplies Corporation please consult History of the Department of Munitions and Supply, by J. de N. Kennedy (Ottawa: 1950) pp