The first step taken by the RCAF to implement the Plan was the creation of a Directorate of Works and Buildings. The new Directorate was tasked with the daunting responsibility of designing and supervising the construction of the 1,000 buildings and the Base infrastructure that the BCATP would require.

The Directorate recruited numerous senior managers from established Canadian construction companies to lend their expertise and lead design, procurement, and construction efforts. Planning work began in earnest for the earliest possible start date.

The Canadian government identified 24 existing airports around the country that would be used as Training Bases to kick off the Program. By December 1939, the Directorate began refurbishing and building new structures around the existing airfields. Classrooms and residences were commandeered from universities, colleges, and other provincial institutions, and unused space in buildings was procured for training, logistics, and warehousing from private schools and municipal governments.

Engineers and drafting technicians were engaged and set to work creating at least thirty thousand sketch plans and one and a half million blueprints, which eventually led to the construction of more than 7,000 buildings that the BCATP required across the country.

To build the new Bases quickly, the Directorate ordered many components of the wooden and steel buildings to be prefabricated in central areas and shipped to the locations. As a result of the effort, Bases came together relatively quickly, with the first schools opening in May 1940.

To kick off the Program, experienced pilots from across the country, including those from the United States, were recruited with incentives that included pay and flying hours 

Government was pressed to find and add to the supply inventory of aircraft, engines, parts, and consumables during the Plan's start-up phase.