The records in this accession do not pertain to the Colombo Plan perse but rather originate with a variety of sources from several different filing systems relating to all manner of subjects concerning the developing period of Canada's foreign aid programme. They include registry files of the Economic and Technical Assistance Branch and the External Aid Office, background and briefing papers, minutes of meetings, United Nations documents, communications, Presidents' Office chrono files, Training Committee files, Colombo Plan Conference secretariat files, financial records, project records, reports and various miscellaneous related documents.
With the formation of the Colombo Plan in February 1951, the Canadian Government formed the Interdepartmental Group on Technical Assistance to assist in the administration of the aid programme. In 1951, the International Economic and Technical Cooperation Unit was established in the Department of Trade and Commerce to coordinate all activities related to technical assistance. As the aid plan eventually evolved to include developing countries in all areas of the world, this unit expanded to become the Economic and Technical Assistance Branch of the T&C in 1959, which eventually was transferred to the External Aid Office of External Affairs in 1960. In 1968, the Office was reorganized and designated as a department and subsequently renamed the Canadian International Development Agency.
