page_title: Canada and the Vietnam War
section_title: Assistance to the U.S. war effort
hierarchical_section_title: Canada and the Vietnam War / Assistance to the U.S. war effort
caption_attribution_description: English: DHC-4 Caribou transport aircraft on landing approach, Vietnam War
context_page_description: The Vietnam War had considerable effects on Canada, but Canada and Canadians also affected the war.
  The Canadian government did not officially participate in the war. However, it contributed to peacekeeping forces in 1973 to help enforce the Paris Peace Accords.
  Privately, some Canadians contributed to the war effort. Canadian corporations sold war material to the Americans. In addition, at least 30,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the American armed forces during the war. At least 134 Canadians died or were reported missing in Vietnam.
  Meanwhile, tens of thousands of American Vietnam War resisters emigrated to Canada to avoid the draft. Largely middle class and educated, they had a significant impact on Canadian life. After the war, tens of thousands of Vietnamese boat people were also admitted and became a unique part of Canadian life.
context_section_description: Canada's official diplomatic position in relation to the Vietnam War was that of a non-belligerent, which imposed a ban on the export of war-related items to the combat areas. Nonetheless, Canadian industry was also a major supplier of equipment and supplies to the American forces, not sending these directly to South Vietnam but to the United States. Sold goods included relatively benign items like boots, but also aircraft, munitions, napalm and commercial defoliants, the use of which was fiercely opposed by anti-war protesters at the time. 
  In accordance with the 1956 Defence Production Sharing Agreement, Canadian industry sold $2.47 billion in materiel to the United States between 1965 and 1973. Many of the companies were owned by US parent firms, but all export sales over $100,000 US (and thus, the majority of contracts) were arranged through the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a crown corporation which acted as an intermediary between the United States Department of Defense and Canadian industry. In some cases Canadian defence contractors were even sent to the theatre of war to carry out company work such as when de Havilland Canada sent mobile repair teams from the Downsview (Toronto) plant to carry out depot level repair on battle damaged de Havilland Caribou aircraft that were owned and operated by the U.S. Army. Furthermore, the Canadian and the American Defence departments worked together to test chemical defoliants for use in Vietnam. Canada also allowed their NATO ally to use Canadian facilities and bases for training exercises and weapons testing as per existing treaties.
  Between January 28, 1973 and July 31, 1973, Canada provided 240 peacekeeping troops to Operation Gallant, the peace keeping operation associated with the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) Vietnam, along with Hungary, Indonesia, and Poland.  Their role was to monitor the cease-fire in South Vietnam per the Paris Peace Accords. After Canada's departure from the Commission, it was replaced by Iran.
caption: A de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou transport plane on landing approach, Vietnam War, 1971.
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