Defence Construction (1951) Limited (Canada) : On 3 June 1939 Parliament passed the Defence Purchases, Profits Control, and Financing Act (3 Geo. VI, ch. 42) which established the principle that the Department of National Defence would exercise its contracting responsibilities through an external organization. Through the Second World War, first, the War Supply Board, September 1939 - April 1940, and then the Department of Munitions and Supply, April 1940 - December 1945, organized and administered all defence contracting. After the war the Canadian Commercial Corporation fulfilled these responsibilities.
In 1950 the Department of Trade and Commerce determined that a Crown company would be required to award contracts and supervise construction projects in the building of the postwar defence infrastructure. The dormant Wartime Housing Limited, originally incorporated 28 February 1941, was selected as a company having the requisite powers for construction, and supplementary letters patent re-named the company as Defence Construction Limited, with its head office in Ottawa, on 24 November 1950. The company's responsibilities included receiving requisitions from the Minister of National Defence, arranging for the letting of contracts, supervising construction, purchasing materials and supplies, and assisting and paying contractors. Initially, the company reported through the Minister of Trade and Commerce, then, from 1 April 1951, through the Minister of Defence Production.
At the time of activation of Defence Construction Limited, a problem arose through a 1948 amendment to the National Housing Act, 1944, calling for Wartime Housing Limited to surrender its charter. For this reason, Defence Construction (1951) Limited was incorporated on 12 July 1951 under the terms of the Defence Production Act, 1951 (15 Geo. VI, ch. 4) and took over the former company's responsibilities and assets. Initially the new company reported to Parliament through the Minister of Defence Production; then, from 1963 to 1965, through the Minister of Industry; from 1965 to 1986, through the Minister of National Defence; and from 1986 through the Minister of Public Works, since 1993 the Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
Doing business as Defence Construction Canada, Defence Construction (1951) Limited remains the construction contractor for National Defence and other government departments today (2000). Governed by a Board of Governors, the company's executive officers are the President and Chief Executive Officer; the Vice-President Operations/Chief Engineer; and Secretary-Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer. The head office is divided into three main divisions - Contract Services Division, Corporate Services Division and Operations Division. There is a high degree of decentralization, with regional offices in the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario and the West, and site offices operating on projects when required. From a maximum staff of nearly 700 in 1956, the company now has about 200 employees.
Over the years not only has the company undertaken all the construction contracting requirements of National Defence, but also those of defence construction for Canadian bases in Europe, construction in Canada for Canada's allies - for the U.S. Department of Defence, particularly the Mid-Canada Line radar sites, rearward communications sites for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System and the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command's Refuelling Facilities Program; construction of facilities for the British Army at Suffield, Alberta, for the German Army at Shilo, Manitoba, and for North Atlantic Treaty Organization training at Goose Bay, Labrador. As well the company contracted and supervised the construction of the northern Ontario portion of the first trans-Canada natural gas pipeline, the paving of the Canadian portion of the Alaska Highway and facilities for Expo 67 in Montreal. In the 1950s and 1960s the company also worked with the Department of External Affairs and the Canadian International Development Agency to contract construction projects, including large hydro-electric power developments, in India, Pakistan, Ceylon and the British West Indies. Recent projects have included the North American Air Defence Modernization Program to replace antiquated Distant Early Warning Line installations, environmental cleanup of Arctic sites and decommissioning of Canadian Forces bases as part of the government's Infrastructure Reduction Program.
Richard Golding Johnson, the General Manager of the Canadian Construction Association, was loaned to Defence Construction Limited in November 1950 as its first President and General Manager, and remained until 1963. Other Presidents have been Alan Goldsworth "Joe" Bland, 1963 - January 1985 , J.R. Lorne Atchison, January 1985 - early 1996, and Ross Nicholls, June 1996 - .
