The DHC-1 Chipmunk was developed in response to the Canadian Air Force's request for a modern, single-seat, training aircraft designed to replace the aging Tiger Moth series of aircraft after 1945. Despite limited research and development efforts, the DHC-1 Chipmunk proved to be a highly successful aircraft, offering high maneuverability, capable of performing simple aerobatics, and exceptionally reliable.

In the Canadian Air Force, the DHC-1 represented a significant upgrade compared to the Tiger Moth aircraft. Multiple versions of this aircraft were produced during mass production. The first mass-produced version was the DHC-1A-1 or Chipmunk T.1. Additionally, the DHC-1B-1 and DHC-1B-2 variants were developed for airshows. The license to produce the DHC-1 was also purchased by the United Kingdom, where the aircraft were built under the name Chipmunk. DHC-1 aircraft were also sold to many countries, including Belgium, Burma, Egypt, Israel, and Portugal.