Establishment of the Polymer Corporation National Historic Event
Sarnia, Ontario
Worker in the laboratory
(© Expired)
Address :
1265 Vidal Street South, Sarnia, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
2005-08-03
Other Name(s):
-
Establishment of the Polymer Corporation
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
2004-39, 39A
Importance:
Alowed Canada to gain a significant foothold in the important field of organic and polymer chemistry
Plaque(s)
During the Second World War, the Allies lost their main source of natural rubber when plantations in Southeast Asia, many in European colonies, came under Japanese control. Crucial to wartime industries, rubber was used to make everything from tires to boot soles. The Canadian government quickly responded by urging conservation on the home front and by founding the Polymer Corporation in 1942, which produced synthetic rubber at a plant here in Sarnia. Canadian scientists made important advancements in organic and polymer chemistry as this Crown corporation grew to become a major international producer of synthetic rubber.