Departmental Plan 2023–2024

On this page

• From the Minister
• From the Librarian and Archivist of Canada
• Plans at a glance
• Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks
  • Acquiring and preserving documentary heritage
  • Providing access to documentary heritage
• Internal services: planned results
• Planned spending and human resources
• Planned spending
• Planned human resources
• Estimates by vote
• Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
• Corporate information
• Organizational profile
• Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
• Operating context
• Reporting framework
• Supporting information on the program inventory
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions

From the Minister

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, it is my pleasure to present the 2023–24 Departmental Plan for Library and Archives Canada (LAC). As a society, we are living in a period filled with challenges—and we are facing them with a great deal of resilience, courage, and mutual support. While the organizations in the Canadian Heritage Portfolio plan their year to come, they remain attentive to the needs of Canadians in order to remain in tune with current realities. In this way, they are carrying out their mission in fields as diverse as arts, culture, heritage, and communications.

In 2023–24, LAC will continue to improve public access to the history and stories preserved in its collection. These millions of documents and other works bear witness to the diversity of our past experiences and provide us with keys to help us understand the present. To enhance access, LAC will offer adapted services and renewed public programming that focuses on the needs of users. To respond to the recommendations of the Information Commissioner, it will also continue the important reform of its access to information services and the protection of personal information, as well as the implementation of its action plan.

Thanks to its Indigenous initiatives, programs, and services, LAC supports the government’s commitment to creating a renewed relationship, based on respect, recognition of rights, and the cooperation and partnership of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. Over the next two years, it will carry out the important work of describing and digitizing files related to the federal system of Indigenous day schools. Acknowledging the truth and the wrongs of the past is fundamental to advancing Reconciliation.

Furthermore, LAC’s recently inaugurated Preservation Storage Facility will securely preserve the documents that are a part of our shared history. This is a wonderful example of our commitment to building sustainable infrastructure. Ādisōke, the future facility shared with the Ottawa Public Library, will also continue to take shape. It promises to be a major hot spot for the dissemination of our cultural heritage.

I invite everyone who wishes to learn more about the activities and responsibilities of Library and Archives Canada in the coming year to have a look at this report. In it, you will find evidence of LAC’s commitment to serve the population in a spirit of equity, inclusion, and Reconciliation. I hope you enjoy reading it.

The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez

From the Librarian and Archivist of Canada

Driven by change, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has the wind in its sails. Our ways of doing things are evolving rapidly, and we intend to continue along that path of change.

Last spring, we laid the foundation for new directions for LAC with Vision 2030, a framework that will guide our future. Providing access to the collections and aligning our services with our users’ needs are our top priorities.

We will redouble our efforts to ensure that the documentary heritage preserved in our vaults is more accessible, through a variety of virtual and in-person services. Within a few years, Ādisōke, our joint facility with Ottawa Public Library, will greatly increase our ability to share our collections with the general public.

Our institution is also committed to responding to the recommendations of the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada and to increasing our capacity to process access to information and privacy (ATIP) requests. We will do this by implementing our new ATIP Action Plan.

We will continue to preserve Canada’s rich documentary heritage. To do so, we will keep on moving a portion of our collections to the new Preservation Storage Facility, which was inaugurated last fall. At the same time, we will continue to acquire materials from different communities across Canada, so that the collections better reflect the diversity of experiences, including those of marginalized people.

Of course, all of these initiatives are just the tip of the iceberg. Since I cannot list them all, I encourage you to read about our overall priorities in the pages of this plan. I look forward to sharing with you the results of our efforts to improve access to our collections and to develop services that meet the needs and expectations of Canadians.

Leslie Weir
Librarian and Archivist of Canada

Plans at a glance

Three years ago, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) embarked on a major transition to optimize its digital capacity and improve the services it provides to Canadians. To guide its efforts, it developed, in consultation with its staff, its partners and its users, a brand-new vision and a strategic plan, which was made public in the spring of 2022. This plan guides the organization in its decision making, sets out the goals it intends to achieve by 2030, prioritizes the activities to be carried out and influences the corporate culture.

The Vision 2030 statement—“Discover. Understand. Connect.”—reflects the importance for LAC to offer programming and services that are accessible and useful to Canadians of all ages and in all regions of the country. These will help to bring people together around a variety of stories, which will support the transmission of our rich heritage. Access to the collection is central, as it is the key that opens a vast world of connections and knowledge.

Four elements will contribute to achieving the vision; they will guide LAC’s plans and priorities for years to come: inviting users to discover the collections; reflecting diverse voices; engaging with the community, partnering with the world; and supporting our people, sustaining our heritage.

LAC’s 2023–24 Departmental Plan is based on a strategic direction of putting the user first. It is informed by three guiding principles: focusing on access, enhancing organizational capacity and transforming the way we work.

Making the collections even more accessible

In recent years, LAC has prioritized modernizing its infrastructure and its processes, to improve its capacity to acquire and preserve Canada’s documentary heritage. It successfully completed the construction of its Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau and operationalized its new Digital Asset Management System. The organization will continue to build on this success and will focus on the fundamental issue of access to its collections. This will include the development of a new digitization strategy and a coordinated approach to changing metadata standards to improve the collection’s discoverability.

Offering programming and services focused on user needs

Following the construction of Ādisōke (the Anishinābemowin term for storytelling), the new joint facility with Ottawa Public Library, LAC will continue to transform its services to the public so that they are focused on user needs, both online and in person.

An overhaul of public programming will also allow people across the country to experience a new range of exhibitions, workshops and events, either in person or virtually. This selection will promote the discovery and understanding of the stories and histories of communities in Canada, raising awareness of their richness and their diversity.

LAC will continue to renew its access to information and privacy (ATIP) services and to implement its action plan, which aims to address the recommendations of the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada regarding the backlog and delays in processing requests for access to records under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The purpose of this process and action plan is ultimately to improve services for users.

On the path to reconciliation

LAC is committed to playing an active role in reconciliation between the Government of Canada and First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation peoples. In 2023–24, it will update its Indigenous Heritage Action Plan and begin reflecting on integrating reconciliation into its activities.

Through its Listen, Hear Our Voices contribution program, LAC will continue to support Indigenous communities by strengthening their ability to digitize and preserve materials related to their languages and cultures. It will support the accessibility of the Indigenous documentary heritage preserved in the collection at LAC by describing and digitizing materials through its We Are Here: Sharing Stories initiative. It will also continue the important work of identifying, describing and digitizing records related to the federal Indian Day Schools system.

Diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility

To ensure that the collection accurately reflects the diversity of communities in Canada, LAC will review its acquisition guidelines to include the documentary heritage of marginalized individuals and groups in its strategy, and it will propose innovative solutions that respect their needs.

Finally, LAC will continue its initiatives to promote and maintain a healthy, safe, inclusive and respectful work environment. It will develop and implement strategies to hire people from all backgrounds, thereby creating a qualified and diversified workforce. It will launch its first-ever accessibility plan, which includes an range of recommendations and actions to reach its goal of being a fully accessible organization by 2040.

For more information on LAC’s plans, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this plan.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains information on the organization’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

1. Acquiring and preserving documentary heritage

Description

• LAC acquires documentary heritage of historical value and preserves it for current and future generations, as mandated in the Library and Archives of Canada Act.
• Its collection is made up of documentary heritage preserved in a variety of media and formats.
• LAC advises the Government of Canada and its institutions on the management of information and ensures that records of historical value are transferred to its collection.
• Through legal deposit, all materials submitted by Canadian publishers become part of its collection, as well as sampling of Internet content.
• Other records of national significance are acquired to document Canadian society.
• LAC uses state-of-the-art techniques and infrastructure to restore the collection and provide optimal conditions for long-term preservation. LAC also builds its capacity and expertise to ensure the availability of digital records.

Planning highlights

In 2023–24 and beyond, LAC will continue to strengthen its ability to acquire, process, describe and preserve Canada’s documentary heritage efficiently and securely for current and future generations.

1.1 Acquiring and preserving a collection in which Canadians can see themselves

The collection at LAC is the result of 150 years of acquisition and preservation. At present, it includes more than 50 million items, including monographs published in various languages, newspapers and serials, textual documents from government and private sources, plans and maps, photographs, audiovisual materials, works of art, and digital information.

This collection shows various aspects of Canada’s culture, society and history. By acquiring, describing and preserving materials that reflect the plurality and diversity of experiences and perspectives, LAC contributes to a better understanding of the past.

In keeping with its private archives acquisition orientation, LAC will give preference to analog and digital materials that intersect with subjects or groups that are under-represented in the collection. To ensure that more Canadians are able to see themselves in the collection, LAC will continue to review its focus. It will develop a new cross-sectoral acquisition strategy that will include, in particular, the documentary heritage of individuals and groups who have been marginalized or even excluded from Canadian society at some point in the past. LAC will work with experts to ensure that this acquisition strategy contributes to the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

LAC will continue to work with creators and communities to help them preserve their materials where appropriate, to inform them of best practices for storing digital records, and to inform them about the possibility of transferring their archives to LAC or any other documentary heritage institution.

In addition, LAC will lead a project to adjust the terms of access so that records related to multiculturalism in Canada and the Vietnam War are open for consultation. In 2023–24, LAC will continue to revise the descriptive data of archival heritage to improve the discoverability of records from government and private sources. It will continue to work to ensure that descriptions of Canada’s documentary heritage are culturally appropriate, historically accurate, and free of racist language and colonialist connotations.

1.2 Optimizing capacity to acquire, describe and preserve digital and analog documentary heritage

LAC will continue its efforts to modernize its infrastructure and processes for acquiring records from federal institutions and private donors, heritage made available by Canadian publishers, and theses and dissertations deposited by Canadian universities.

In recent years, LAC has conducted several pilot projects involving its new Digital Asset Management System (DAMS). They have successfully demonstrated that DAMS can support the acquisition, evaluation, description, preservation and retrieval of LAC’s digital collections. This set of automated and semi-automated digital tools monitors the integrity of the data, allowing for the management and long-term preservation of digital assets.

In 2023–24, LAC will prioritize processing of, and providing access to, the 1931 Canadian census. This collection will be the very first to be processed and made accessible to the public through DAMS. Censuses are an essential source of information for genealogical research, because they help to piece together the composition of a household and identify its members, including their age, gender, relationships, occupation and even religion. In an ongoing effort to improve the user experience and simplify research, LAC recently launched Census Search, a one-stop shop for 44 million records previously held in 17 databases.

As part of the legal deposit program, LAC will promote its new and improved deposit system to monograph publishers for the deposit of their digital publications. This system includes user-friendly web forms and a batch submission option for depositing several publications at once. It will increase the percentage of published titles transferred to LAC in digital format, as the proportion of Canadian publishers producing digital books (93 percent) continues to grow, according to the study conducted in 2021 by Booknet Canada. The collection will therefore further reflect how Canadians create and access cultural content.

LAC will also continue its efforts to archive Canadian government websites and social media, in line with international best practices recommended by the Internet Archive. LAC plans to facilitate the discoverability of an additional 13,000 gigabytes of archived web content.

In 2023–24, the organization will continue its government records disposition program. This will include ensuring that the disposition authorizations that it has issued are current and respected, and it will issue new ones so that more federal institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act are covered by an agreement. Disposition authorizations allow federal institutions to dispose of records that no longer have operational value, by allowing the records to be destroyed (that decision is left to their discretion), by requiring that documents of archival value be transferred to LAC, or by consenting to the records being transferred to the control of an entity other than the government. LAC will also continue to promote its generic valuation tools among government departments and agencies, to support them in recordkeeping management and decision making related to documentary resources of operational value.

In fall 2022, LAC opened its new Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau. This centrepiece of the organization’s long-term infrastructure strategy enables it to meet high standards for the preservation of analog records in a sustainable manner over the long term. The facility’s new automated shelving and retrieval system will optimize the removal and return of collections in the vaults. The system operates in the dark and limits the number of vault openings to save energy and maintain optimal preservation conditions

In 2023–24, LAC will continue to move a portion of the analog collection into the new storage spaces (590,000 containers, or the equivalent of 94 kilometres of boxes placed end to end). The containers were moved from two facilities: the Preservation Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, and the warehouse in Renfrew, Ontario. Some holdings or records involved in the move will be temporarily inaccessible. Litigation-related or urgent access to information requests will not be affected.

At the same time, LAC will continue to optimize the vaults in the Preservation Centre, where specialized items in the collection are stored.

1.3 Collaborating, supporting and raising awareness among memory institutions and the Government of Canada

In 2023–24, LAC will strengthen its relationships and its place in existing networks. It will provide leadership among cultural organizations and memory institutions (libraries, archives and museums), and in policy discussions on information management in the federal government.

LAC will provide financial support to small public and post-secondary institution libraries that wish to contribute to Voilà, the National Union Catalogue, or to receive interlibrary loan or copy cataloguing services. It will seek the advice of the advisory committee members of the Canadian library community, which was established as part of the revision of its Policy on Maintaining the Canadian National Union Catalogue.

LAC will continue to support the development of a national network for the preservation of print collections in Canada, to meet its obligations under the Final Report of the Canadian Collective Print Preservation Strategy Working Group.

Finally, LAC will support the efforts of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in implementing best practices in information management. These will help to ensure sound information management within the Government of Canada (GC) and facilitate access to government records by limiting access restrictions prior to their transfer to LAC.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus)

LAC’s current activities and initiatives related to the acquisition, description and preservation of documentary heritage are supported by distinctions-based and culturally-adapted GBA Plus approaches.

LAC is committed to applying GBA Plus to its new initiatives, including the description and digitization of Indian Day Schools records, an initiative that will engage several LAC sectors over the next two years. GBA Plus has demonstrated the initiative’s alignment with the six pillars of the GC’s Gender Results Framework. It also considers that Indigenous communities far from urban centres will be positively affected by the initiative, because the digitization of Indian Day schools records has the potential to remove geographic barriers to accessing physical records, which are held at LAC facilities in Winnipeg and Gatineau.

For further information concerning GBA Plus at LAC, please consult the GBA Plus supplementary information table.

United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The new Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau helps in achieving two United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs): SDG 9, which involves building a resilient infrastructure, promoting sustainable industrialization and encouraging innovation; and SDG 12, which involves establishing sustainable means of consumption and production through efficient use of resources and energy.

In 2023–24, LAC will revise its Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy to meet its obligations under the new 2022-2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy for Canada. More specifically, LAC will take steps to green its buildings, reduce the energy consumption of its facilities, and reduce the carbon footprint of its fleet. Additionally, LAC will integrate environmental performance considerations into its procurement process.

Innovation

LAC will allocate resources for innovation to optimize its capacity to acquire, process and preserve Canada’s documentary heritage.

Financial, human resources and performance information for LAC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

2. Providing access to documentary heritage

Description

• LAC provides access to its collection, while respecting legal, policy and contractual obligations.
• Using cutting-edge technologies, LAC enables Canadians to access and consult its collection and enrich their knowledge of Canada’s documentary heritage.
• LAC makes digital content available through its website and social media to improve access to its collection. As well, LAC provides online services and in-person services at its four service points.
• LAC uses innovative strategies such as crowdsourcing (Co-Lab) and the Digi-Lab to complement the digital content of its collection.
• LAC also promotes Canadian heritage by creating exhibitions that enable the public to discover its collection in cultural sites throughout Canada.
• Through the Documentary Heritage Communities Program, LAC supports memory organizations by increasing their capacity to preserve and make their collections accessible.

Planning highlights

In 2023–24 and beyond, LAC will significantly transform its services, both at its points of service and online. It will work to improve its digital presence, to make the collection more accessible and to reach more Canadians. It will prioritize the needs of users.

2.1 Transforming services: planning the opening of Ādisōke and improving access to the collection

In 2023–24, the construction of Ādisōke will continue. It is estimated that the LAC and Ottawa Public Library joint facility will welcome more than 1.7 million visitors annually after its scheduled opening in 2026.

The facility will give new visibility to LAC, becoming its public face, and it will pave the way for a new clientele, which is likely to be less familiar with LAC’s mandate. The building, with an area of more than 20,000 m2, will not only house the main branch of Ottawa Public Library, but also become LAC’s largest public service site. The organization must therefore rise to the challenge of adapting its services to a larger, more diversified clientele with different expectations than its traditional clientele. Its services will be dynamic, intuitive and inclusive.

LAC will establish a new working group to develop and lead a strategy to redesign the services it offers to the public and a detailed action plan, focused on user needs and experiences of users, to prepare now for the opening of Ādisōke. It will continue to consult and work closely with the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Public Library and Ādisōke’s host nations and partners, namely the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation.

To respond to the needs expressed individually and collectively by First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation, LAC will continue to plan and implement research support and collection access services, both online and at its various points of service. For example, it will provide online tools and subject guides to facilitate research in the collections on topics such as federal Indian Residential Schools, federal Indian Day Schools, and federal Indigenous hospitals and related health services. It will work to advance LAC’s commitments under the agreement with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to improve access to services and collections for Inuit. In addition, it will develop a training and awareness program for staff who provide collection access services.

In recent years, LAC has considerably improved the discoverability of its collection through the redesign of its website, the integration of additional datasets into its Collection Search tool and the development of customized digital services. It will continue to move in this direction, always putting users’ needs at the centre of its concerns and constantly simplifying access to the collections.

For example, it will create a new web research tool that will integrate all of the datasets related to immigration. It will continue to improve the user experience, specifically by adding a new feature to the My Account platform to track access to information and privacy requests.

LAC will also continue to support its users with technology that will enable them to digitize (DigiLab) and contextualize (Co-Lab) collections that are of interest to their research or communities.

The organization will continue to digitize analog records and Indigenous documentary heritage records. It will develop a new digitization strategy that will focus on all aspects of digitization and allow for the development of a multi-year implementation plan.

LAC will also take a coordinated approach to evolving metadata standards, to improve the discoverability of the collection. The internal work of reflecting on digital data description and archival information systems replacement will continue.

2.2 Redesigning services to support access to information and privacy requests

One aspects of LAC’s mandate is to serve as the continuing memory of the federal government and its institutions by acquiring, preserving and providing access to historical records. Through its Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) team, and also through its digitization and reference services, its loans staff, and its government records archivists, LAC is a key player in access to information in Canada.

Indeed, LAC’s responsibilities for requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act extend well beyond those of other federal departments and agencies: it is the custodian of billions of pages of records that it preserves on their behalf. In recent years, LAC has seen a considerable increase in the number and complexity of access to information requests submitted, which has put considerable pressure on the organization and resulted in a significant backlog of requests.

These challenges, directly related to the unique nature of LAC’s mandate, were the subject of a systemic investigation by the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, which tabled two reports in April 2022: Access at issue: The challenge of accessing our collective memory and Library and Archives Canada (Re), 2022 OIC 17. In these reports, the Office of the Information Commissioner made 10 recommendations on access to information at LAC and drew the attention of Parliament to two issues that affect not only LAC but also Canada’s entire access to information system. These issues are the often lengthy consultation period with other government departments and organizations, which delays access, and the lack of a declassification system, which undermines the transparency of democratic institutions.

In 2023–24, LAC will respond to the recommendations and will work to find solutions to these problems, particularly by implementing its ATIP Action Plan.

At the same time, LAC will continue to support the government’s response to the following litigation, involving the retrieval of records in the collection: the Canadian Armed Forces–Department of National Defence Sexual Misconduct Class Action , the class action in response to concerns of systemic racial discrimination and harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces, the class action of LGBT members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the federal public service who have been subjected to discrimination and harassment.

LAC will continue to implement its Action Plan to Support Crown Judicial Issues. The objectives of this plan are to make other government departments and agencies aware of LAC’s mandate and to work with central agencies to engage LAC in a timely manner in litigation involving the collection. Also in 2023–24, LAC will form a new team dedicated to litigation support and establish oversight of upcoming litigation that may have effects on its ATIP services.

2.3 Reaching more Canadians

In 2023–24 and beyond, LAC will reach out to new audiences, particularly youth, through the development of educational programs. It will facilitate understanding of the experiences and stories of Canadians, and it will encourage diverse uses of the collections.

LAC will continue to redesign its public programming, both in person and online (events, exhibitions and tours), to reach more Canadians across the country and to prepare to share a range of stories with future visitors.

As part of its new programming strategy, it will launch pilot projects to reach teachers and academic institutions, and in turn, young Canadians. In an effort to bring Canadians from various perspectives together, LAC will take part in initiatives that celebrate and share the heritage and resilience of different communities.

In addition, LAC will continue to be present virtually to accompany Canadians in their research, and to inform and encourage them to explore their stories. LAC’s specialists will put their expertise and passion to work to create and distribute articles, videos and podcasts. The organization will continue to take an integrated approach to the content it publishes and shares online through its social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram), on its English YouTube and French YouTube channels, and on its blog.

2.4 Supporting access to documentary heritage

LAC will work in partnership with research institutions, teams of researchers, and cultural and community organizations to improve the accessibility, visibility and awareness of Canada’s documentary heritage. It will continue to expand its network and develop new partnerships to reach a wide range of communities and organizations to make their stories better known to the public.

To this end, it will continue its successful collaboration with the Mountain Legacy Project (University of Victoria), digitizing glass-plate negatives. This project analyzes the transformation of mountain landscapes and climate change in Canada using historical photographs.

In commemoration of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 (commonly known as the “Chinese Exclusion Act”), LAC will digitize, describe and share the records it holds with a Vancouver-based community commemoration project. These records will be part of an exhibition at the Chinese Canadian Museum beginning in July 2023 entitled The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act. This discriminatory law was intended to restrict Chinese immigration to Canada by narrowing the categories of eligible Chinese immigrants.

LAC will also continue its partnership with the University of Toronto’s Muslims in Canada Archives – MiCA, to locate and preserve archives documenting the experience of Muslim communities in Canada.

In 2023–24, LAC will organize a forum with its university partners and promote the documentary heritage of Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC). It will continue to administer its Documentary Heritage Communities Program, which since 2015 has supported Indigenous communities and Canadian local or regional heritage institutions by helping to improve their capacity to preserve, make accessible and promote their collections. It will offer webinars and information sessions to raise awareness and encourage documentary heritage communities representing diversity (such as 2SLGBTQI+, OLMC, Indigenous, Black and people of colour) across Canada to apply for funding under this program.

LAC will advance the 28 actions outlined in its Indigenous Heritage Action Plan. The organization is committed to playing a key role in reconciliation between the GC and First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation by adopting a “nation to nation” or “government to government” approach, particularly in terms of human rights. Developed in collaboration with LAC’s Indigenous Advisory Circle and made public in 2019, the plan proposes concrete actions to be taken over a five-year period to advance respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples, the preservation of their cultures and languages, and information management. In 2023–24, LAC will begin the work to revise the plan in consultation with Indigenous partners, in addition to begin reflecting on integrating reconciliation into its activities.

LAC will also provide funding through the fourth call for applications to its Listen, Hear Our Voices contribution program. This initiative supports efforts to identify, digitize and preserve documentary heritage related to Indigenous languages and cultures, and to build the digitization and preservation capacity of organizations. Concerning the final aspect of the program, LAC is working to improve access to digitization capacity building for recipients, particularly by offering online workshops.

As part of its We Are Here: Sharing Stories initiative, LAC will digitize 225,000 images by March 31, 2024, to support the accessibility of the Indigenous documentary heritage preserved in the collection. It will also create user-friendly finding aids and continue to upload content online to showcase and provide access to these materials.

Furthermore, LAC will continue its dialogue and strengthen its ties with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, to facilitate access to the records and other resources collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission during its mandate.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus)

LAC’s current activities and initiatives related to providing access to documentary heritage are supported by distinctions-based and culturally-adapted GBA Plus approaches.

For instance, LAC is committed to applying GBA Plus to LAC’s access to information and litigation support. GBA Plus has demonstrated the program’s alignment with the six pillars of the GC’s Gender Results Framework. It is also consistent with the Accessible Canada Act (S.C. 2019, c. 10). Since ATIP legislation does not allow for the collection of applicant data, LAC’s GBA Plus focuses on the broader equity-seeking communities served by LAC’s ATIP team. The program will have both direct and indirect positive impacts on the communities by addressing the growing demand for historical records to support settlements of past harms and discrimination, and by furthering the reconciliation process between the GC and Indigenous peoples.

For further information concerning GBA Plus at LAC, please consult the GBA Plus supplementary information table.

United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

In November 2020, as part of the Fall Economic Update, the GC announced an additional investment of $34.5 million in Ādisōke, including significant facility improvements that support Canada’s Greening Government Strategy. They will reduce the building’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30 percent, thereby contributing to SDG 13, which involves taking action to fight climate change and its effects. Major improvements to the building’s architectural design have also been made to ensure that the net carbon footprint is zero. Ādisōke will not only be a Canadian cultural heritage site and a gathering place prized by residents and visitors, but also an excellent example of the GC’s commitment to build sustainable infrastructure.

Innovation

LAC will allocate resources for innovation to optimize its capacity and change how things are done, using an iterative approach to transform its digital tools and services, and in turn provide greater access to the collections.

For example, LAC will use an agile approach and a user-centred design to develop new user-friendly digital access tools that meet the changing needs of users.

LAC will revolutionize the way it delivers ATIP by exploring new ways of assessing, analyzing and reviewing content more effectively and efficiently, implementing new practices and procedures, and leveraging international best practices. LAC’s ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for an ATIP request by proactively opening access to government records in the collection.

Key risks

LAC has determined the key risks it could face and has created mitigation strategies to manage the risks.

Risk assessment and description	Mitigation strategies
Public services If LAC does not continue to improve all of the services it provides (such as services to researchers, the public, the federal government, donors, libraries and publishers, and class action support), it may not fully meet the changing needs of its current and future users, and thus become less relevant. Following the construction of Ādisōke, LAC will need to carefully reimagine its service offerings and programming, because it is expected that the vast majority of visitors will not be familiar with LAC’s collection and services.	Establish a working group to conduct a review of the services that LAC offers to the public and develop a detailed action plan for the opening of Ādisōke Deploy a new strategy to fundamentally transform LAC’s public programming and services Listen to users’ needs and implement best practices for user experience, to constantly improve the experience Continue to develop research support and collection access services for First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation Develop an approach to reach teachers, educational institutions and youth, to encourage them to discover the collection
Access to information and privacy LAC is also at risk of lacking the capacity to meet its legal obligations regarding access to federal government records and personal information. LAC’s responsibilities in this area go well beyond those of other departments, as it is the custodian of billions of pages of records held on behalf of federal organizations. In recent years, LAC has provided significant support to the government’s response to various court-ordered settlements. There has also been a substantial increase in the number of requests for access to records under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. LAC has a large backlog of access requests affecting various client groups, such as researchers, former members of the Canadian Armed Forces and public service employees.	Implement the ATIP Action Plan, to address the 10 recommendations in the report from the Office of the Information Commissioner Communicate LAC’s mandate to other government departments and agencies, and work with central agencies to involve LAC in litigation related to the collection in a timely manner Establish oversight of upcoming legislation that may affect its ATIP services Continue to support the federal government’s commitment to openness and transparency, particularly by pursuing its initiatives to proactively provide access to government archives Work with other GC institutions to establish a government-wide framework for declassifying records Improve processes and revise workflows to find a more efficient way to process ATIP requests Test and implement new technology to streamline and expedite the way that ATIP requests are processed

The financial, human resources and performance information for LAC’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

The net change in planned spending between fiscal years is mainly due to changes in financial profiles related to:

• the partnership between LAC, Ottawa Public Library and the City of Ottawa for the Ādisōke project;
• the initiative to support the access to information and litigation support function (2022–23 to 2027–28);
• the initiative to implement the federal framework to address the legacy of residential schools (2022–23 to 2024–25); and
• the initiative to implement the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, announced in Budget 2021 (2021–22 to 2024–25).

Financial, human resources and performance information for LAC’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

The net change in planned full-time equivalents between fiscal years is mainly due to changes in resources related to:

• the partnership between LAC, Ottawa Public Library and the City of Ottawa for the Ādisōke project;
• the initiative to support the access to information and litigation support function (2022–23 to 2027–28);
• the initiative to implement the federal framework to address the legacy of residential schools, announced in Budget 2022 (2022–23 to 2024–25); and
• the initiative to implement the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, announced in Budget 2021 (2021–22 to 2024–25).

The financial, human resources and performance information for LAC’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Internal services: planned results

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within an organization so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

• management and oversight services
• communications services
• legal services
• human resources management and security services
• financial management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• real property management services
• materiel management services
• acquisition management services

Planning highlights

Internal Services will support program delivery and strategic directions. They will continue to evolve and adapt to the changing context and needs of the organization, to support the management of a diverse and high-performing workforce, while implementing a modern, inclusive, respectful and safe workplace.

Delivering digital services

Information technology, data management and digital activities will play a key role in LAC’s transformation and the achievement of many of the goals set out in its Vision 2030. In particular, the organization will continue to modernize its digital services to facilitate access to the collection and improve the online experience for users.

To better support its staff in serving Canadians and in the transformation of digital services and programs, LAC will continue to build a wide range of technological tools. It will pay close attention to the cybersecurity of its information technology systems, in accordance with government digital policies and standards, to address privacy, confidentiality and security risks.

In addition, LAC will review its data strategy and action plan. This will clarify roles and responsibilities for data management and improve the use of data in decision-making processes.

Strategies for inclusive practices and a welcoming and respectful work environment

In the coming years, LAC will face several challenges, including its digital and service transformations, its ATIP function, and its digitization and Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives. To carry out these activities, the organization will need to recruit a qualified workforce and create a stimulating and inclusive work environment that allows for the advancement and retention of its employees.

In 2023–24, LAC will continue to implement its 2021–24 First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation Recruitment and Retention Strategy. It will develop a resourcing strategy that addresses the representation gaps between equity and equity-seeking groups, and it will implement its new strategic plan for integrated people management. It will bring together, in a single planning tool, the various plans that LAC typically produces (diversity and employment equity, official languages, etc.). The result will be one single, user-friendly and more dynamic strategic plan. Furthermore, to make room for the next generation of employees, LAC will develop a strategic recruitment approach for students. All of these initiatives will support LAC’s resourcing efforts in the context of labour shortages and position the organization as an employer of choice for the future.

In addition, LAC will implement its hiring strategy to recruit new resources to support areas that will require substantial effort in the coming years. This will be accomplished through drawing from existing pools, creating inventories of qualified (at-level) candidates and using an inventory of members of designated groups. It will implement positioning strategies to attract and retain qualified and diverse resources.

To meet the new requirements of the Accessible Canada Act, LAC will develop and implement its new accessibility plan. It is based on seven pillars: accessibility in hiring and retention practices, in physical facilities and workplace design, in communications and information technology, in communications (other than information technology), in design and delivery of programs and services, in procurement of goods and services, and in changes in organizational culture.

Building on the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period of rapid workforce adaptation to working remotely and health measures, LAC has developed a framework and guidelines to begin implementing an agile and responsive approach to new ways of working that require redesigned workplaces. In 2023–24, LAC will continue to implement a hybrid work model tailored to new realities, with a focus on continuous improvement of work processes and excellence in service delivery. It will continue to cultivate a respectful and collaborative work environment that will support operational needs.

Supporting the government in achieving its sustainable development goals

After the launch of the 2022-2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy in November 2022, LAC will update its Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy so that it meets the new objectives set by the GC. This is the first-ever federal strategy to focus on the 17 SDGs of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also proposes a broader definition of sustainable development that includes not only the environmental aspects of the SDGs but also some social and economic objectives.

LAC will continue its efforts to improve the sustainability, accessibility and climate resiliency of its real property portfolio. For example, it will conduct carbon neutrality and climate resilience studies for all of its facilities, and it will study the possibility of installing charging stations for electric vehicles. It will also aim to achieve LEED Gold certification for the new Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau.

Optimizing the real property portfolio to better support acquisition and preservation of, and access to, collections

In 2023–24, LAC will implement its Real Property Portfolio Strategy, a strategic planning document with a 30-year time frame required by Treasury Board under its Directive on the Management of Real Property. The strategy will provide a vision that goes beyond the individual design of each asset and provides a complete overview of LAC’s real property portfolio. It will enable the organization to optimize its long-term capacity to acquire and preserve Canada’s documentary heritage.

Finally, it is important to note that LAC owns, manages and operates six specialized facilities across Canada, including the new Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau. Another building—Ādisōke—that will house LAC’s public services, among other things, in the National Capital Region is currently under construction. In the coming years, LAC will need to plan not only the transfer of its services to the new facility, but also the relocation of documentary resources stored at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa. It will need to find solutions for the storage of materials not selected for inclusion in the collection presented at Ādisōke. It will also explore various options for meeting future storage needs for analog holdings, whose annual growth is estimated at about three percent of the size of the collection.

The net change in planned spending between fiscal years is mainly due to changes in financial profiles related to:

• the initiative to support the access to information and litigation support function (2022–23 to 2027–28);
• the initiative to implement the federal framework to address the legacy of residential schools, announced in Budget 2022 (2022–23 to 2024–25); and
• the initiative to implement the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, announced in Budget 2021 (2021–22 to 2024–25).

The net change in planned full-time equivalents between fiscal years is mainly due to changes in resources related to:

• the initiative to support the access to information and litigation support function (2022–23 to 2027–28);
• the initiative to implement the federal framework to address the legacy of residential schools, announced in Budget 2022 (2022–23 to 2024–25); and
• the initiative to implement the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, announced in Budget 2021 (2021–22 to 2024–25).

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the organization’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2023–24 with actual spending for the current year and the previous year.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2020–21 to 2025–26

The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.

 

 

Figure 3 - Text version

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) spending trend (dollars)

	2020—21	2021—22	2022—23	2023—24	2024—25	2025-26
Statutory	12,475,871	10,723,849	14,788,356	15,511,154	12,625,592	11,310,219
Voted	117,903,335	121,079,423	207,329,340	188,323,819	179,993,637	161,976,968
Total	130,379,206	131,803,272	222,117,696	203,834,973	192,619,229	173,287,187

The change in planned spending is mainly due to changes in financial profiles related to:

• the initiative for the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures, announced in Budget 2017 (2017–18 to 2020–21);
• the initiative for the acquisition, processing, preservation and accessibility of the private records of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper (2017–18 to 2021–22);
• the initiative to implement the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, announced in Budget 2021 (2021–22 to 2024–25);
• the initiative to support the access to information and litigation support function (2022–23 to 2027–28);
• the initiative to implement the federal framework to address the legacy of residential schools, announced in Budget 2022 (2022–23 to 2024–25);
• the real property portfolio, including construction of the new Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau; the financial profile for 2022–23 includes an anticipated substantial completion payment of $36.1 million for this construction project; and
• a partnership between LAC, Ottawa Public Library and the City of Ottawa for the joint facility project (Ādisōke).

Overall, planned budgetary changes are due to statutory appropriation adjustments and the following initiatives:

• the initiative for the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures, announced in Budget 2017 (2017–18 to 2020–21);
• the initiative for the acquisition, processing, preservation and accessibility of the private records of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper (2017–18 to 2021–22);
• the initiative to implement the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, announced in Budget 2021 (2021–22 to 2024–25);
• the initiative to support the access to information and litigation support function (2022–23 to 2027–28);
• the initiative to implement the federal framework to address the legacy of residential schools, announced in Budget 2022 (2022–23 to 2024–25);
• the real property portfolio, including construction of the new Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau; the financial profile for 2022–23 includes an anticipated substantial completion payment of $36.1 million for this construction project; and
• a partnership between LAC, Ottawa Public Library and the City of Ottawa for the joint facility project (Ādisōke).

Planned human resources

Estimates by vote

Information on LAC’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2023–24 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of LAC’s operations for 2022–23 to 2023–24.

The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, are available on LAC’s website.

The $20.7 million increase in net cost of operations is mainly due to the following elements:

• an increase of $10.6 million for the access to information and litigation support function;
• an increase of $5.5 million for the implementation of the federal framework to address the legacy of residential schools, announced in Budget 2022;
• an increase of $1.3 million for the implementation of the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, announced in Budget 2021; and
• an increase of $3.3 million mainly related to anticipated changes in non-budgetary expenditures, such as the value of services provided without charge by other government departments and amortization of tangible capital assets, as well as statutory adjustments.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage

Institutional head: Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada

Ministerial portfolio: Department of Canadian Heritage

Enabling instrument: Library and Archives of Canada Act, S.C. 2004, c. 11

Year of incorporation: 2004

Acronym: LAC

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Information on LAC’s raison d’être, mandate and role is available on LAC’s website.

Information on LAC’s mandate letter commitments is available in the Minister’s mandate letter.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on LAC’s website.

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to LAC’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on LAC’s website:

• Details on transfer payment programs
• Gender-based analysis plus
• United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals

Federal tax expenditures

LAC’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis plus.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address:
Library and Archives Canada
550 de la Cité Boulevard
Gatineau, Quebec J8T 0A7
Canada
Telephone: 613-996-5115 or 1-866-578-7777 (toll-free in Canada and the United States)
TTY: 613-992-6969 or 1-866-299-1699 (toll-free in Canada)
Fax: 613-995-6274
Email: reference@bac-lac.gc.ca
Website: www.bac-lac.gc.ca

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A document that sets out a department’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

Departmental Result (résultat ministériel)

A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

Departmental Result Indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

Departmental Results Framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.

full‑time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. Full time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2023–24 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the Government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighting harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world.

high impact innovation (innovation à impact élevé)

High impact innovation varies per organizational context. In some cases, it could mean trying something significantly new or different from the status quo. In other cases, it might mean making incremental improvements that relate to a high-spending area or addressing problems faced by a significant number of Canadians or public servants.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

Program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

An inventory of a department’s programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department’s core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.