He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the son of Frederick Thomas Smye and Maude Givern, and was educated at Trinity College in Port Hope.
At the close of the war he played a key role in establishing the British Hawker Siddeley Group in Canada through the formation of A.V.
With the official formation of Avro Aircraft on December 1, 1945, he was appointed Assistant General Manager.
He was a lead administrator of all the major Avro projects: the Jetliner, the CF-100, the Orenda engines to power it, and the Arrow supersonic interceptor.
After the cancellation of the Arrow by the Diefenbaker government in 1959, Smye resigned from A. V. Roe in 1960 and in 1963 purchased Canadian Ofrex Limited, running the company as President until selling it in 1972.