LAC Forum on Canadian Democracy

Citizenship

Library and Archives Canada collects and preserves a variety of records relating to Canada's multicultural population, immigration, the process of becoming a Canadian citizen, Canadian rights and freedoms, and the groups and individuals who take an active interest in defining and developing the Canadian state.

1. Naturalization, Immigration, and Citizenship

Included in the records of the Registrar General are some of the early records related to the naturalization process. LAC also has early naturalization registers in records of the Provincial Registrar of Upper Canada and Canada West.

• Registrar General sous-fonds (1760-2004)
• Naturalization records (1828-1885)
• Upper Canada and Canada West: Provincial Registrar, Naturalization Registers (1828-1850)

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration was created in 1950 and inherited the records of several federal offices carrying out social and cultural functions prior to that time. The records in this fonds are those specific to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Records for functions that were subsequently transferred to other departments may be found in other record groups.

• Department of Citizenship and Immigration fonds (1880-1992)
• Immigration Branch sous-fonds (1880-1966)
• Canadian Citizenship Branch sous-fonds (1941-1966)
• General Board of Immigration Appeals (1956-1968)

The Department of Employment and Immigration was established in 1966 and ceased to operate in 1993. At that time, its immigration functions were transferred to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The earliest immigration records are found in this group.

• Department of Employment and Immigration fonds (ca. 1865-1988)
• Immigration Program sous-fonds (1865-1985)

The Immigration Appeal Board, formally created in 1956, became an independent body in 1967 and was responsible for making decisions related to immigration. The Immigration and Refugee Board was created in 1988 from the merger of the Immigration Appeal Board (IAB) and Refugee Status Advisory Committee (RSAC).

• Immigration Appeal Board fonds (1967-1989)
• Immigration and Refugee Board fonds (1977-1992)

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada was created in 1993 and is responsible for administering the Immigration and Citizenship Acts and developing policy in these areas. Note: This fonds is in development.

• Department of Citizenship and Immigration fonds (ca. 1967-1997)

Many photographs of immigrants to Canada are identified generally at the fonds level. For additional photographs of new immigrants and Canadians from diverse backgrounds see:

• Canada Department of Manpower and Immigration collection (1958-1960)
• Canada Department of Manpower and Immigration collection (1930-ca.1960)

2. Multiculturalism

From 1868 to 1993, the Department of the Secretary of State was the department concerned with civic and cultural affairs.

• Department of the Secretary of State of Canada fonds (1848-1996)
• The Citizenship Sector series (1857-1979)
• Citizenship Registration Branch sub-series (1887-1978)
• Citizenship registration records from the Montreal Circuit Court (1857-1955)
• Registry files created by the Minister of State for Multiculturalism (1971-1979)

The Secretary of State also administers a regional operations program from Regional Offices located across the country. The program oversees granting and educational programs and provides information and services to fulfill the Department's mandate of fostering a sense of belonging to Canada. See the following records series:

• Alberta-North West Territories Regional Office (1959-1995)
• Manitoba Regional Office (1968)
• New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Regional Office (1973-1992)
• Newfoundland Regional Office (1973-1993)
• Nova Scotia Regional Office (1957-1993)
• Pacific Regional Office (1974-1978)
• Quebec Regional Office (1982-1991)
• Saskatchewan Regional Office (1970-1993)

3. Rights and Freedoms

The Canadian Human Rights Commission was created in 1977 to promote understanding of the Canadian Human Rights Act, provide a means of resolving complaints, and conduct research on issues in human rights.

• Canadian Human Rights Commission fonds (ca. 1977-1999)
• Human Rights Tribunal series (1979-1992)
• Complaints and Compliance Branch (1978-1993)

The Ministry of State for Social Development existed from 1980-1984 and was charged with formulating and developing "new and comprehensive policies in relation to the activities of the Government of Canada that affect the welfare of the individual and social development."

• Ministry of State for Social Development fonds (1979-1986)
• Office of the Minister of State for Social Development (1979-1984)
• Central registry files series (1979-1984)

4. Political Activism

Library and Archives Canada collects and preserves a variety of records relating to political organizations and individual Canadian activists, for example:

• Canadian Trotskyist Movement fonds (1920-2005)
• Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and New Democratic Party fonds (1905-1983)
• Fonds Parti Rhinocéros (1963-1991) Liberal Party of Canada fonds (1878-1986)
• Progressive Conservative Party of Canada fonds (ca.1880-1993)

5. Published Materials

As a national catalogue, AMICUS not only shows the published materials held at Library and Archives Canada but also those located in over 1300 libraries across Canada. AMICUS contains over 30 million records for books, magazines, newspapers, government documents, theses, sound recordings, maps, electronic texts, as well as items in braille and large print.

Using the Advanced Search option in AMICUS and selecting "Publication Type", you can limit your search to "Government publications – Federal/national" or "Government publications – State, prov., terr. etc." You can also narrow your search by language and date, as well as format. Specifying "Web documents" in the latter will limit the search to full-text electronic publications.

Here are some sample Subject Keyword searches:

• Citizenship – Canada
• Immigrants – Canada
• Canada – Emigration and immigration – Government policy
• Naturalization – Canada
• Multiculturalism – Canada
• Minorities – Canada
• Civil rights – Canada
• Human rights – Canada
• Political parties – Canada
• Liberal Party of Canada
• Conservative Party of Canada
• New Democratic Party
• Bloc Québécois
• Campaign literature – Canada