Government Publications

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The Government Publications collection includes over 1.7 million pages of historical pre-1900 colonial, provincial and federal government documents. This collection includes government acts, bills, committee reports, court rules, debates, journals, ordinances, a selection of official publications from France and Great Britain, sessional papers, regulations, royal commission reports, voter’s lists and treaties.

Size: 8,500 monographs; 79 series titles with 2,635 issues

Selection criteria: Government Publications is the fruit of the Early Official Publications project, whose parameters were set by the Government Publications Advisory Committee. Municipal government publications and post-Confederation provincial publications are not included in this collection.

Contents

Collection highlights:

  • A selection of pre-Confederation official government publications produced by colonial legislatures, such as acts, legislative debates, legislative journals, and sessional papers
  • A selection of federal government documents published 1867-1900, such as acts, parliamentary debates, parliamentary journals, Royal Commission reports and sessional papers
  • Pre-1900 publications from France and Great Britain that relate to the governance of Canada, such as treaties, acts, bills, correspondence, British Parliamentary papers and reports
  • Civil service lists, 1885-1900
  • Pre-1900 official guides for prospective immigrants to Canada
  • Selected speeches from statesmen such as Sir John A. Macdonald, Joseph Howe, Charles Tupper, Henri Bourassa, and others