[21] Norman McLaren founded the NFB's animation unit in 1942, and had George Dunning, René Jodoin, Wolf Koenig, Jean-Paul Ladouceur, Evelyn Lambart, Colin Low, Grant Munro, and Robert Verrall working there within a decade of its creation.

Leo Dolan, an ally of Hepburn and the head of the Canadian Government Travel Bureau, accused Grierson of being Jewish and a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation supporter.

The Gouzenko Affair implicated Freda Linton, one of Grierson's secretaries, and the organization was criticized by the Progressive Conservative Party for subversive tendencies, financial waste, and being a monopoly.

Albert Trueman, president of the University of New Brunswick and a member of the board of governors of the NFB and CBC, was selected by Winters to replace Irwin.

[45] Since the foundation of the NFB its offices were divided across multiple locations in Ottawa and plans created during World War II to construct a single headquarters were not acted upon.

[46][48] In September 1954, Quebec censors demanded that the NFB pay a censorship fee of $20,500 per year and Trueman wanted to accept it in order to avoid controversy.

He suggested Gérard Pelletier as his successor, but Guy Roberge, a former Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec who had written sections of the Massey report, was selected instead as the first French-Canadian commissioner.

[81] The Treasury had granted $1 million, $250,000 less than what was requested, in August to cover NFB's salary increases, but McPherson was not informed as ministers hoped he would institute larger budget cuts.

[87][88] Lamy criticized multiple French productions, such as Cotton Mill, Treadmill, 24 heures ou plus, and Un pays sans bon sens!, as being too biased or separatist and were ordered to not be released in 1970.

[92][93][94] In 1970, Pelletier called for the creation of a Canadian Film Commission, made up of private and governmental interests, but it was opposed by the NFB, CBC, CFDC, and Library and Archives Canada.

[98][99] Lamy left the NFB and the board of Governors selected James de Beaujeu Domville, who served as deputy film commissioner for seven years, after four months.

[104][105] During Derek Lamb's leadership of the English language animation studio produced multiple critical acclaimed works, including the Academy Award-winning Every Child.

Lamb resigned in 1982, and was replaced by Doug McDonald, whose tenure was criticized by animators such as David Fine's statement that "Norman McLaren would be turning in his grave if he knew how the place was being run".

[108] The committee released its report on 15 November 1980, in which it called for the elimination of the government's role in producing and distributing cultural products and to instead give it to the private industry.

[110] Domville suggested Patrick Watson as his successor and the board of governors accepted him, but Fox declined as he wanted his Film and Video Policy to be considered by the cabinet first.

[112] In 1990, Wil Champbell and Roger Trottier asked Graydon McCrea about holding a meeting about the participation of First Nations people in the film industry.

[118][119] The Indian Film Crew was an early effort in First Nations filmmaking at the NFB, through its Challenge for Change program, initially proposed by the associate director of the CYC, Jerry Gambill, according to Noel Starblanket.

Barbara Wilson, Tom O’Connor, Noel Starblanket, Roy Daniels, Morris Isaac, Willie Dunn, and Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell were on Canada’s first all-Indigenous production unit, making groundbreaking work that helped galvanize Indigenous movements across the continent.

[122] The alternative drama films were The Masculine Mystique (1984), 90 Days (1985), Sitting in Limbo (1986), The Last Straw (1987), Train of Dreams (1987), Welcome to Canada (1989) and The Company of Strangers (1990).

He would go on to refine his technique make a series of hand-drawn films at the NFB during and after the Second World War, most notably Boogie-Doodle (1940), Hen Hop (1942), Begone Dull Care (1949) and Blinkity Blank (1955).

[129] Traditional animators included Richard Condie, John Weldon, Alison Snowden, Janet Perlman, Cordell Barker, Brad Caslor, Michael Mills, Paul Driessen among others (some draw on paper rather than cels).

[167][168] The following year, the NFB announced that it also plans to achieve gender balance by 2020 in such creative positions as editing, scriptwriting, musical composition, cinematography and artistic direction.

First launched in January 2009, the program has led to the production of Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, Yung Chang‘s The Fruit Hunters and Su Rynard’s The Messenger.

[187] In September 2013, the University of Quebec in Montreal (Université du Québec à Montréal) announced that it had acquired the CineRobotheque for its communications faculty.

In 1989, it received an Honorary Award from the Academy "in recognition of its 50th anniversary and its dedicated commitment to originate artistic, creative and technological activity and excellence in every area of filmmaking.

"[198] On January 23, 2007, the NFB received its 12th and most recent Academy Award, for the animated short The Danish Poet, directed by Torill Kove and co-produced with MikroFilm AS (Norway).

[238] As of 2016, NFB web documentaries have won 17 Webby Awards, presented International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the internet.

In the early 1970s, two Quebec political documentaries, Arcand's On est au coton and Gilles Groulx's 24 heures ou plus, were initially withheld from release by the NFB due to controversial content.

[248] The Kid Who Couldn't Miss (1982) cast doubt on the accomplishments of Canadian World War I flying ace Billy Bishop, sparking widespread outrage, including complaints in the Senate subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs.

Moreover, in 1997, the American cable channel Cartoon Network created a weekly 30-minute show called O Canada, which specifically showcased a compilation of NFB-produced works; the segment was later discontinued in favour of Adult Swim.