Canada. Mutual Aid Board : The Mutual Aid Board came into being with the passage of the War Appropriation (United Nations Mutual Aid) Act of 1943 ( 7 George VI, ch. 17) under the auspices of Canada's Mutual Aid policy. The Board was chaired by C.D. Howe, Minister of Munitions and Supply. Karl C. Fraser was appointed Director of the Board, which followed a policy of avoiding setting up new governmental bodies. With a small central administrative core of 10 employees, the Mutual Aid Board thus worked within the existing structures of the Department of Munitions and Supply, the Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Commerce, Department of Fisheries, and the Canadian Export Board. The Mutual Aid Board was funded mainly by the Department of Munitions and Supply, which spent a reported $2,797,000,000 in expenses towards the Board (Canadian Mutual Aid Board, Final Report, 1946). The Chief Treasury Officer of the Department of Munitions and Supply also served as Chief Treasury Officer for the Mutual Aid Board.
The Mutual Aid Board functioned within the wider efforts and policy of Canadian wartime production and supply aimed at supporting the Allies with material goods during the Second World War. The Mutual Aid Board was the regulating body of Canadian foodstuffs and wartime materials that were sold and provided to the Allies. Requests from allied countries were first received by the Department of External Affairs before being processed through the interdepartmental arms of the Board. The Board acted as an intermediary between requests from Allies and procurement of goods in Canada as a means of controlling pricing, supplies, and distribution. The Mutual Aid Board was composed of several committees which served various functions. These were: Munitions Assignment Committee; Joint War Aid Committee; Inter-Departmental Committee; Washington Advisory Committee. Canada's policy of Mutual Aid was mirrored by the United States' Lend-Lease policy with Britain.
With the close of the Second World War, production under the Mutual Aid policy was called to an end at midnight on Sept. 1st, 1945. The remaining job of dealing with surplus goods fell upon the Department of Munitions and Supplies and the Mutual Aid Board was disbanded.
