Crown Corporations Created to Meet Wartime Requirements.
The Polymer Corporation was one of twenty-eight Crown companies created to meet needs that were not being fulfilled by existing industries. In spite of scrap drives and controls on the consumption of materials designated as essential for the war effort, shortages persisted. Rubber was in demand, particularly for military vehicles; the Department of Munitions and Supply therefore requested the building of the Polymer Corporation's synthetic rubber plant in Sarnia, Ontario.
At the peak of construction, fifty-five hundred employees worked on the Polymer complex, part of which is shown here. Located originally on a property of about seventy-five hectares, this $50 million project consisted of ten plants for converting petroleum gases into rubber, a post office, a police station, a fire hall, a library, a general store, and a cafeteria. Other facilities included a river dock, a railway siding, a ball park, and a bowling alley.
The sudden flood of workers to Sarnia resulted in a common wartime problem, a housing shortage. Wherever production was suddenly intensified because of Canada's involvement in the war, housing was at a premium.
