Founded in 1962 as the Canadian division of British Hawker Siddeley Group, the company assumed the assets of the A.V.

Consequently, Hawker Siddeley had two primary railcar manufacturing plants: Hawker Siddeley forced its DOSCO subsidiary to close money-losing coal mines and steel mills, subsequently expropriated by the federal and Nova Scotia governments (see: Cape Breton Development Corporation and Sydney Steel Corporation).

Hawker Siddeley Canada's operations were then acquired by Kingston-based UTDC (later sold to Bombardier Transportation of Montreal, Quebec).

SNC-Lavalin purchased the railcar business but mothballed the TrentonWorks plant, which was later acquired by the Government of Nova Scotia and sold to Greenbrier.

SNC-Lavalin sold the Thunder Bay plant to Bombardier Transportation and the Hawker Siddeley Canada name was ultimately dissolved in 2001.