The origins and early history of Canada’s Cold War scientific intelligence, 1946-65
| Author | Matthew S. Wiseman |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020221115442 |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essay |
Scholarly Essay
International Journal
2022, Vol. 77(1) 7–25
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00207020221115442
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The origins and early history of
Canada’s Cold War scientific
intelligence, 1946-65
Matthew S. Wiseman
Department of History, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Abstract
In the process of creating the policies and structures that led to the formal organization
of Canada’s Defence Research Board after the end of the Second World War, senior
military and defence officials in Ottawa conceptualized and established a scientific
intelligence bureau within the defence department. Recognizing the heightened military
significance of science during the war, defence officials believed that scientific
intelligence—the practice of analyzing scientific information for forecasting the
weapons and warfare potential of enemy countries—could support and improve
Canada’s military preparedness efforts in the immediate postwar period. Using recently
opened government and military records, this article explores the origins and history of
Canadian scientific intelligence during the early Cold War, framing the topic as useful
for understanding Canada’s military past and Ottawa’s approach to some of the
country’s top security and defence issues of the late 1940s through the mid-1960s.
Keywords
Scientific intelligence, military intelligence, Cold War, Arctic, Defence Research Board
Corresponding author:
Matthew S. Wiseman, Department of History, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West,
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
Email: matthew.wiseman@uwaterloo.ca
“Obviously, if we donot know how or by what we will be attacked, it is extremely difficult
to prepare ourselves for defence. ... In particular, one of the objects of ‘Scientific In-
telligence’is to try to forecast the type of novel weapons which may be used against us in
the future. Without that knowledge it is clearly difficult to plan logically any long term
Defence Research.”
–Canadian report on scientific intelligence, May 1949
1
In May 1946, the director general of defence research at Canada’s Department of
National Defence (DND), Omond Solandt, wrote a preliminary report to the minister of
national defence, Douglas Abbott, outlining the immediate research and development
(R&D) needs of the Canadian armed services. With respect to matters of defence and
national security, Solandt’s report laid the foundations for the establishment of the
fourth arm of the Canadian military—the Defence Research Board (DRB)—and
emphasized the value and importance of scientific intelligence to Canada’s postwar
military preparedness: “The need for secrecy in military research greatly impedes the
free inter-change of information,”Solandt claimed. “It is therefore essential that a
defence research organization should devote a relatively large part of its resour ces to
ensuring that its workers are kept fully informed of both secret and non-secret in-
formation needed in their work.”
2
Within a year of this report, an amendment to the
National Defence Act allowed for the creation of the DRB and the beginnings of the
scientific intelligence body Solandt had envisioned.
Scientific intelligence constituted the practice of analyzing scientific information for
forecasting the weapons and warfare potential of enemy countries. Solandt believed in
the necessity of gaining a better understanding of the latest research developments
made on the other side of the Iron Curtain. He convinced Canada’s top defence officials
that assessing the military capabilities of enemy states, namely the Soviet Union and its
satellites, through scientific intelligence, could support Canada’s postwar military
preparedness efforts while reinforcing the Canadian commitment to North Atlantic
security. Solandt’s position was clear: gaining knowledge about the scientific and
technical research activities of the enemy was essential for understanding and de-
fending against their war potential, and he used this argument to convince DND
officials of the military value of scientific intelligence and establish a special scientific
intelligence bureau within the DRB.
Officially established in April 1947 as the fourth branch of DND and the research
arm of the Canadian military, the DRB funded and facilitated scientific and
1. Defence Research Board, Scientific Intelligence Division, May 1949, file 710–0 pt. 1, Record Group (RG)
24 C-11638, Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Document obtained from the Canadian Foreign In-
telligence History Project (CFIHP) collection, maintained by Alan Barnes and Timothy Sayle, at Carleton
University. See https://carleton.ca/csids/canadian-foreign-intelligence-history-project/ (accessed 4 July
2022).
2. O.M. Solandt, Policy and Plans for Defence Research in Canada: A Preliminary Review, Appendix A:
Suggested Fields for Defence Research, May 1946, 16, file Speeches –Reporting etc. 1947–March 1953
volume I, vol. 2425, RG 24, LAC.
8International Journal 77(1)
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