National Resources Mobilization Act


The National Resources Mobilization Act, 1940 was a statute of the Parliament of Canada passed to provide for better planning of a much greater Canadian war effort, both overseas and in military production at home.

Scope

Modelled on the British Emergency Powers Act 1939, as amended in 1940, it gave the Canadian government the power to
This was the basis of all organization for Canada's war production.

Preparation for military readiness

In order to prepare the population for military service, provision was made under the Act for:

Employment control

The Act was also used to ensure greater efficiency that was required in a wartime economy by:
OrderAge or statusIn stated industriesOr in stated occupations
1st Order
  • Anyone born in 19171924 who has turned 19
  • Anyone born in 19021916 who, at July 15, 1940, was unmarried, divorced or judicially separated, or a widower without children
  • taverns; liquor, wine and beer stores
  • retail sales of candy, confectionery, tobacco, books, stationery and news
  • barber shops and beauty parlors
  • retail and wholesale florists
  • service stations
  • retail sale of motor vehicles and accessories
  • retail sale of sporting goods or musical instruments
  • waiter, taxi driver, elevator operator, hotel bell boy, domestic servant
  • entertainment
  • dyeing, cleaning and pressing, baths, guide service, shoe shining
    • 2nd Order
  • As for 1st Order
  • retail stores
  • manufacture of specified non-essential items
  • distilling alcohol for beverages
  • factory production of statuary and art goods
  • ice cream parlours and soda fountains
  • bus boys
  • charmen and cleaners
  • custom furriers
  • dancing teachers
  • dishwashers
  • doormen and starters
  • greens keepers
  • grounds keepers
  • porters
  • private chauffeurs
    • 3rd Order
  • Anyone born in 19171927 who has turned 16
  • Anyone born in 19021916 who, at July 15, 1940, was unmarried, divorced or judicially separated, or a widower without children
  • any wholesale activity not listed as essential
  • raising of special livestock
  • flower growing
  • horticultural services, except tree surgery
  • leather currying, finishing, embossing and japanning
  • brewing
  • manufacture of specified non-essential items
    • 4th Order
  • All young men who have reached their 16th birthday, but have not yet reached their 19th birthday
  • As in 1st and 2nd Orders
  • As in 1st and 2nd Orders
    • 5th Order
  • As in 3rd Order
  • Candy, confectionery, soft drinks, flavouring extracts, syrups and essential oils
  • Tobacco, tobacco pipes and cigarette holders
  • Hats and caps, artificial leather, padding and upholstery filling for general use
  • Various furniture, furnishings, fixtures, children's vehicles
  • Monuments and tombstones, other stone and metal work, advertising signs and displays
  • Pianos and organs, musical instrument parts and materials, games, toys and dolls
  • Pens, mechanical pencils and pen points; artists' materials, jewellery and instrument cases
  • Various retail, household and service machines; beauty and barber equipment; vacuum cleaners
  • Art, authors, museums; library operations, photography; lapidary work
  • Costume renting; manufacture of wigs, toupees, braids and switches
  • Fur dressing and dyeing; fur storage
    • 6th Order
  • Extended to all men aged 16 to 40
  • As in previous Orders
  • As in previous Orders
    • 7th Order
  • As in 6th Order
  • Insurance
  • Short term credit, stock brokers, financial institutions other than banks
  • Real estate
  • Travel agencies
  • Year-round hotels
  • Seasonal hotels, other types of short-term lodging
  • Millinery, bedspreads, trimmings and embroideries
  • Various costumes, uniforms and gowns
  • Washing and polishing of automobiles

    • Nature of conscription

    The Act permitted conscripts to be used for home defence only and not to be deployed overseas. The "Zombies" were so-called because they were soldiers who could not fight overseas in the war, making them like the zombies of Haitian mythology who were neither dead nor alive, but rather somewhere in-between. In 1942, the Act was amended to remove the prohibition on conscripts serving outside Canada, and the first overseas campaign that NRMA recruits were subsequently involved in was the recapture of the island of Kiska in August 1943. Until November 1944, only those Canadians who had volunteered were sent elsewhere overseas.
    The rule prohibiting "Zombies" from being sent to fight overseas was modified after a plebiscite was held on the matter on 27 April 1942 where the majority of people in the 8 English-speaking provinces voted to release Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King from his promise not to send the Zombies overseas. By contrast, Quebec voted by a large majority against overseas conscription in the referendum. As Quebec was the one province that Mackenzie King really wanted to vote yes in the plebiscite, Quebec's non vote placed the prime minister in the dilemma of honoring the wishes of the majority of English Canada vs. alienating the wishes of majority in French Canada. Such an order, authorizing the transfer of 16,000 conscripts to England, was not made until November 1944. This precipitated the Conscription Crisis of 1944, and resulted in several Quebec Liberal MPs leaving the party in protest. 9,667 NRMA recruits were sent to England, of which two-thirds only arrived after V-E Day.
    The Zombies were widely disliked and regarded as cowards by the men who had volunteered for overseas service. The Zombies wore a black tie and collared shirt as part of their uniform while volunteers for overseas duties did not. In April 1945 when the men of the First Canadian Army were informed that henceforth they would now wear the Zombie black tie and collared shirt, the writer Farley Mowat serving with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment wrote: "the black tie itself was known as the Zombie tie, and the resentment of the volunteers, who were now ordered to wear this symbol of shame, was most outspoken."