Fonds consists of records created and/or maintained by the Department of Industry and its predecessors. Researchers are cautioned that unprocessed textual records and records in other media are not reflected in this description.
Canada. Dept. of Industry : The Department of Industry (DOI) existed for almost six years, from July 1963 through March 1969. The Department of Industry Act (SC 1963 c.3) established the Department of Industry on July 25, 1963. Part II of this Act also established the Area Development Agency, which was an agency that reported through the Deputy Minister of Industry. The Government Organization Act, 1969 repealed the Department of Industry Act and, on March 31, 1969, the DOI ceased to exist. On that date most of the DOI merged with the long-established Department of Trade and Commerce, thus forming the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce (ITC). At the same time, the Area Development Agency was transferred to the Department of Forestry and Rural Development, which was then incorporated into a newly created department, the Department of Regional Economic Expansion (DREE).
Three months after the election of a new government in April 1963, the Department of Industry was established, and Prime Minister Pearson appointed C.M. (Bud) Drury as its minister. Mr. Drury held the post of Minister of Industry for five years. Shortly after the election of a new government in June 1968, Prime Minister Trudeau announced his government's intention to merge the DOI with the Department of Trade and Commerce. Mr. Drury moved to another cabinet portfolio, and Jean-Luc Pépin was named Minister of Industry, a post he held until the merger came into effect eight months later. In his well-known work Organizing to Govern, Gordon F. Osbaldeston reported that "[t]here was no disagreement among those we interviewed that the reason a Department of Industry was created was because Walter Gordon wanted one, and he had the personal influence with Pearson and those close to him to ensure that he got it."
As to Deputy Ministers, the department had only two. D. A. Golden was Deputy Minister during the department's first year, and Simon Reisman held the post from July 1964 through March 1968. When Mr. Reisman left, he was not replaced. The post of Deputy Minister of Industry was vacant from April 1968 through March 1969.
The mandate of the Department of Industry was broad. The Department of Industry Act assigned it responsibility " to acquire a detailed knowledge of manufacturing industries in Canada; promote the establishment, growth, efficiency and improvement of manufacturing industries in Canada; and develop and carry out such programs and projects as may be appropriate [;] to assist the adaptation of manufacturing industries to changing conditions in domestic and export markets, and to changes in the techniques of production, to identify and assist those manufacturing industries that require special measures to develop an unrealized potential or to cope with exceptional problems of adjustments, and to promote the development and use of modern industrial technology in Canada and improve the effectiveness of the participation by the Government of Canada in industrial research."
The operational work of the department was organized under ten, later eleven, operational branches; a program advisory group, which provided specialized advice to the rest of the department; and the Area Development Agency. Names and mandates of some branches changed slightly over the course of the department's life, but in 1966 they were Aerospace, Shipbuilding, Electrical and Electronics, Machinery, Mechanical Transport, Apparel and Textiles, Wood Products, Food Products, Chemicals, Materials, and National Design.
The National Design Branch did the administrative work of the National Design Council. It contributed to Canada Design `67; a catalogue prepared for Expo `67; hosting the Fifth General Assembly and Congress of the International council of Societies of Industrial Design; the Design Canada Centre Program; the Design Canada Service; Design Canada Scholarships and Grants; Better Products for Modern Living; Design in Government; a survey of design in Canada; and various design awards such as the Canadian Wood Design Awards and the Canadian Structural Steel Design Awards.
The department provided assistance and information to individual firms, industry associations and others. Such assistance included doing studies, providing technical advice, and providing information about laws, regulations and other matters that affect the way business is conducted.
Secondly, the department contributed to policy-making endeavours undertaken by other areas of government. In this context, for example, the department provided support for the Adjustment Assistance Board.
Thirdly, the department administered programs. These programs included the Machinery Program, which came into effect January 1, 1968; the General Adjustment Assistance Program, which was set up in May 1967; the Automotive Program, which complemented the Canada- United States Automotive Agreement, signed in January 1965; the Automotive Adjustment Assistance Program, which included a loan program, and a tariff remission program; the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Assistance Program (PIDA), which was introduced in 1968; grants related to the Industrial Research and Development Incentives Act (IRDIA), which came into effect in March 1967; the Program for the Advancement of Industrial Technology (PAIT); a program for the "increased productivity and efficiency in the manufacture and use of building equipment, accessories and materials", (BEAM); a program to assist Canadian universities in establishing and administering industrial research institutes; the Defence Development Sharing Program; and the Defence Industry Productivity Program (DIPP), which combined the Defence Development Sharing Program and the former Industry Modernisation Defence Exports Program. Most of these programs were continued by the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce.
The Area Development Agency had a more specific mandate. It was responsible for administering a system of tax incentives and, eventually, capital grants in designated areas of the country that were experiencing chronic unemployment and lower levels of income. At the outset, the Agency's mandate was specified in Part II of the Department of Industry Act. A more elaborate mandate was soon provided by the Area Development Incentive Act (SC 1965, ch. 12). The Agency also conducted research into means of decreasing unemployment and means for increasing income in these areas. During the period when the Agency was part of the Department of Industry, some areas were added to the list of designated areas and other areas were removed from the list. In some cases these changes were the result of changed economic circumstances of an area. In other cases, the changes reflected changes to the criteria used to determine whether an area qualified for designation.
