The Bolingbroke was Canadian-built and licensed from Bristol Aeroplane Company of England, where it was known as the Blenheim. More than 600 Bolingbrokes of various marks were built in Canada at Longueil, Quebec and used in the early days of WW II as fighters/light bombers and later as trainers. Canadian specifications required de-icing boots on the wing leading edges for the harsh Canadian winters, larger fuel tanks for greater range, a dinghy for water survival, and American/Canadian instruments. A 3-foot extension to the nose of the Mark I was designed to house a bombardier. This modification required two large slanting windows for the bomb aimer and a scooped out section in front of the pilot to aid his vision during take-off and landing, giving the Bolingbroke its distinctive nose section.

Many of the bomber versions were operated in western Canada and in the Aleutians against the Japanese threat in the early 1940’s. In eastern Canada, the aircraft were used in submarine hunting and maritime reconnaissance. At R.C.A.F. Station Greenwood, Bolingbrokes provided training for pilots, gunners, navigators and bombardiers as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and, later, used as target tugs pulling drogues for Mosquito and Hurricane pilot and gunnery training.

The first all-metal, stressed aluminum aircraft built in Canada, the Bolingbroke also was one of the first aircraft to incorporate variable-pitch propellers and retractable landing gear. With its versatility, the aircraft evolved into one of the first multi-role platforms.