Help us enable Library and Archives Canada’s collections to inspire generations of Canadians to achieve their goals and dreams toward building a better Canada and a world that benefits from our values, history and cultural heritage.
* Cheques may be mailed to: LAC Foundation, c/o Jacques Shore, 2600-160 Elgin Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 3C3 or donate online today.
*All online donations are made according to CanadaHelps’s terms and conditions. CanadaHelps is a non-governmental Canadian charity providing an accessible and affordable fundraising platform to registered Canadian charities through an agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency. CanadaHelps accepts donations by credit card; for other types of donations, or for more information, please contact the Foundation directly at bac.fondation-foundation.lac@canada.ca or at 819‑934‑4474.
Want to donate archival material?
Please consult Library and Archives Canada’s website for more information on archival material donations.
Want to donate published material?
Please consult Library and Archives Canada’s website for more information on published material donations.
Our Impact
Our country has shot ahead in recent years—emerging as a distinctive voice on the international scene, embracing truth and reconciliation, and exporting culture of all kinds. Library and Archives Canada is at the centre of critical national efforts like these, helping advance Canadians as a strong and diverse people with ideas to benefit the world. But to truly soar, Library and Archives Canada is striving to become more responsive, more effective, more vital. Through the Library and Archives Canada Foundation, our ambassadors are helping us operate at a higher level in every possible realm as we work to keep memory alive, safeguard truths and inspire artistic expression.
The Canadian story unfolds every day. What role will you play?
Library and Archives Canada is...
Identity
What is Canada? The empathy of Tommy Douglas or the courage of Viola Desmond? The vision of Emily Carr or the vitality of Denys Arcand?
In reality, the chorus of all our diverse voices across the ages is what makes a country. At Library and Archives Canada, you can see, hear and connect with Canada’s living soul in all its creative and hopeful energy. And trace your own family back in time to learn where you fit in our ongoing journey in peace and harmony.
Memory
A library is a spaceship to visit other worlds. An archive is a time machine. Open a book, pull up a map, listen to a recording from Library and Archives Canada, and you are transported: to Champlain and Tessouat’s first meeting; Vimy Ridge 1917; sketching the first snowmobile with Bombardier. Walk a mile in Canada’s past with our passionate collectors and interpreters who keep safe and available hundreds of years of authentic paper, digital, audio and visual history.
Truth
We are not the country we thought we were 100 years ago. Victors write history, and memory can be tricky. Luckily, at Library and Archives Canada, the truth is in here. Now, and 100 years from now, we can discover and uncover, get inspired or irate, acknowledge mistakes, rediscover hidden strength, always sharpening the lens on what it means to be Canadian. Because good conversations start and end with truth, sound decisions with facts, and healthy democracies with enlightened voters.
Inspiration
Treasures inspire ideas and new treasures. Many Canadian authors and artists find both spark and fuel to set their ideas alight at Library and Archives Canada. Creators like Jane Urquhart, Thomas King, Charlotte Gray and many others have found muses in this archeological goldmine—to revive our history and keep writing Canada’s story.
Did you know?
Library and Archives Canada’s holdings are the fourth largest in the world, among national institutions, containing:
•250 km of archives
•7 petabytes of digital content
•30 million photos
•22 million publications
•3 million pages
•550,000 hours of audio & video recordings
•425,000 works of documentary art
•Every Canada Post stamp ever issued
Library and Archives Canada serves the public not only in preserving their heritage but also in making sure that they have access to the information that concerns them, online and in four main locations across the country:
- In Ottawa, Library and Archives Canada personnel provide a number of services for researchers wishing to gain access to its vast collections and where working spaces are available for those wishing or needing to consult documents on-site.
- In Gatineau, members of the public may visit the Gatineau Preservation Centre, currently Library and Archives Canada’s most vast storage facility.
- In Halifax, Library and Archives Canada offers library services in a facility co-located with the Pier 21 Immigration Museum.
- In Vancouver, Library and Archives Canada similarly offers library services in a facility co-located with the Vancouver Public Library on Library Square.
Visit LAC’s website to learn more.