Department of Munitions and Supply

The Department of Munitions and Supply was the Canadian federal government ministry responsible for co-ordinating domestic industry during World War II.

[2] The Department produced armaments for the war effort and regulated the use of gasoline, silk and other strategic commodities in Canada order to prioritize their use for the war production.

[4] The Department established 28 crown corporations[5] including Polymer Corporation that developed and produced synthetic rubber, Victory Aircraft for the production of bombers and Research Enterprises.

[2] It coordinated all purchases made in Canada by British and other Allied governments for materials including military transport vehicles, tanks, cargo and military ships, aircraft, guns and small arms, ammunition as well as uniforms, minesweeping equipment, parachutes, firefighting equipment, and hospital supplies.

[5] The Department was dissolved at the conclusion of World War II and most of its crown corporations sold off.

C D Howe (left) inspects the first tank to be manufactured in Canada on 27 May 1941, a Valentine Mark VI.
Display of artillery and ammunition produced by the General Engineering Company (Canada) and Defense Industries Limited (Ajax) munition factories. Both factories were commissioned by the Government of Canada.