No, it is the other way around. The plastic badges were an economy measure issued in 1943. The plastic badges were made and issued in Canada. (I am not sure about your comment about arriving back in Canada? Is this a reference to the 1 Cdn Para training in the US?) There were no other badges available at this time except the officers' pattern. The brass badges were issued starting in late 1944 to reinforcements in Shilo and by this time 1 Cdn Para Bn had been overseas for about a year. The unit found the plastic badges wanting, both in appearance, but more from the point of durability. The lugs and pins broke off easily and the badges did not show up on the beret. Despite the complaints, production and shipping issues precluded the general issue of brass badges until the end of the war. Only the odd fellow who was a replacement may have had the brass badge.
(As a footnote, NDHQ had toyed with the idea of a steel badge, but production difficulties associated with steel being stamped in steel dies precluded this.)
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Res ipsa loquitur
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