Wartime Housing Limited (Canada) : Canadian industry expanded rapidly during the Second World War under the stewardship of the Department of Munitions and Supply, causing substantial internal migrations of workers to new industrial areas. Lack of activity in the construction industry during the Depression of the 1930s meant that the lack of housing was acute and there was almost no housing around some newly constructed defence plants. Although individual municipalities were responsible for housing, the federal government became concerned about the shortage during 1940. As housing was needed most desperately by war workers, the government gave the Department of Munitions and Supply responsibility to meet the demand. Under an August 1940 amendment to the Department of Munitions and Supply Act empowering the Minister to incorporate Crown companies, Wartime Housing Limited incorporated on 28 February 1941. The federal government allocated 00,000 in initial capital to start the company.
A Housing Coordination Committee made up of representatives from the Departments of Labour, Finance, and Munitions and Supply oversaw construction projects. Whenever possible housing was erected on land owned by the federal, provincial or municipal governments. When this was not possible, Wartime Housing negotiated with private owners or even had land expropriated. The Architectural Division designed houses and communities. Because workers' housing was intended to be temporary, it was built as inexpensively as possible using prefabricated sections atop basic foundations. Single workers were housed in complexes holding between 60 and 600, while detached dwellings were provided for families. As well, the company built municipal offices, community halls, schools, fire stations and other municipal structures to service whole new communities. Wartime Housing formed a Tenants' Relations Division, staffed by social workers, to help new communities integrate with adjacent municipalities.
The first contract, to house Halifax shipyard workers, was awarded on 27 March 1941. Contracting was by public tender until 1944, when it was replaced by a set price per unit system. When Wartime Housing stopped constructing workers' accommodations in late 1944, it had completed more than 17,000 houses. Just as construction for war workers slowed, the company was charged with the responsibility for providing housing for demobilized veterans and for the families of those killed in the war. Veterans' houses were to be inexpensive, sturdy and permanent. By 1 March 1946, more than 25,000 such houses had been, or were being, constructed. To meet demand, the Veterans Housing Project (Toronto) Limited and Veterans Housing Project (Ottawa) Limited were incorporated in May 1945.
To coordinate construction, Wartime Housing arranged joint policy formulation and management with the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation on 1 January 1947. The directors of Wartime Housing became part of the board of Central Mortgage and Housing. Wartime Housing continued to supervise construction while Central Mortgage and Housing guided corporate operations and the renting and sale of completed houses. As building materials became increasingly available, the company constructed more elaborate houses during 1947 and 1948. Demand shrank markedly in 1949, and by the time Veterans Housing Project (Toronto) and Veterans Housing Project (Ottawa) surrendered their charters in May 1950, the government had largely withdrawn from building veterans' housing.
In 1950 the Department of Trade and Commerce determined that a Crown company would be required to award contracts and supervise construction projects in the building of the postwar defence infrastructure. The dormant Wartime Housing Limited was selected as a company having the requisite powers for construction, and supplementary letters patent re-named the company as Defence Construction Limited on 24 November 1950.
The Presidents of Wartime Housing Limited were Joseph M. Pigott, March 1941 - July 1945; Beverley Knight Boulton, July 1945 - November 1946; and Major General (Ret'd.)Hugh Andrew Young, November 1946 - November 1950.
