Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do & Operating context and key risks

Raison d’être

Under the Library and Archives of Canada Act, the mandate of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is as follows:

• to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations;
• to serve as a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society;
• to facilitate in Canada co-operation among the communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge; and
• to serve as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for Library and Archives Canada.

Mandate and role

LAC’s mandate to manage Canada’s documentary heritage rests on three pillars:

1. Acquiring and processing documentary heritage

   LAC is responsible for acquiring documentary heritage of historical value and that shows developments in various areas of activity within Canadian society over the years. The LAC collection contains documents created and published in Canada and abroad that is of interest to Canadians and stored in various formats. To add to its collection, LAC pursues the mandate assigned to it under the Act as well as various mechanisms that include donations and acquisitions.

2. Preserving documentary heritage

   LAC is responsible for preserving its collection to ensure that it stands the test of time and remains accessible to future generations. This responsibility rests on the expertise of its employees who specialize in preservation, on its processes of migration and digitization of content, and on the quality of LAC’s infrastructure.

3. Providing access to Canada’s documentary heritage

   LAC’s responsibilities regarding access to documentary heritage consist of facilitating searches and consultation of its vast collection. LAC provides access to its documentary resources by:

   • providing the public with digital content and online services;
   • providing on-site services at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa and at its service points in Halifax, Winnipeg and Vancouver; and
   • contributing to exhibitions that enable the public to discover LAC collections in communities, museums and cultural sites across Canada.

   For more general information about LAC, see the Supplementary information section of this report. For more information on the organizational commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter.

Operating context and key risks

LAC’s Three-Year Plan 2016–2019 was a guide to completing many achievements in 2018–19. In addition to the four commitments set out in the document, government priorities and the perspectives of its users and documentary heritage partners guided LAC’s activities and initiatives. This fiscal year was also strongly marked by renewal with the preparation of the new Three-Year Plan, which is based on extensive consultations across the country.

Like the Government of Canada, LAC is an open organization that offers modern, inclusive, efficient, digitally optimized services that are available anywhere, anytime. In this sense, LAC has worked to digitize and put online an increased digital collection that is representative of Canada’s cultural and social diversity. It developed interconnected digital tools that take into account the needs of users to facilitate their access to the vast national collection. Its efforts focused on inclusion and accessibility have also resulted in the installation, in its consultation rooms, of new technological equipment to facilitate on-screen reading for citizens with visual disabilities.

Through the provisions of the 2018 Budget, LAC obtained approvals and funding to design a shared facility with the Ottawa Public Library, which will allow it to be even more resolutely at the service of all, in a place where culture and documentary heritage are showcased.

By finalizing the procurement of its project to build a new preservation facility, at net zero carbon, LAC met its second commitment and responded to the government’s priorities of investing in green and sustainable culture and infrastructure. By using an automated shelving and recovery system for its new facility and optimizing the storage space of the existing Preservation Centre, LAC will also contribute to reducing its physical footprint.

In the same spirit of reconciliation as the federal government, LAC listened and worked with the Indigenous Advisory Circle to support the preservation and accessibility of Indigenous cultural and linguistic heritage. Along with its partnerships with the memory institutions sector and the academic community, this collaboration allows LAC to gather a variety of perspectives to shape its directions and decisions and thus offer high-quality services that are adapted to the needs of all.

As part of its fourth commitment, LAC, in collaboration with its partners, organized or hosted activities that showcased Canada’s documentary heritage. Like the government, LAC focused its efforts on its users. For example, it has relied on social media platforms to take into account their perspectives, offer them content of interest and keep them informed of its rich and exciting public programming.

Key risks

The Corporate Risk Profile 2018–21 and LAC’s Departmental Plan 2018–2019 identify the main risks that may impact the achievement of its mandate. The following section describes the main risks and mitigation strategies in place.

1. Risk that LAC will not keep pace with the rapid evolution of technology, which may impair its ability to respond to the needs of users.

At a time when web users expect to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, their needs change as fast as technology advances. While LAC is taking steps to provide the best customer experience possible, it faces challenges implementing new digital systems and tools at the rate of technological change, a rapid evolution that shapes the future needs and expectations of its users.

2. Risk that LAC’s digital processes will not be fully integrated, which may impair its efficiency and effectiveness.

In addition to having to adapt to technological changes, LAC must ensure that the systems and technological solutions put in place to acquire, preserve, manage and make available digital content are sufficiently integrated and compatible with each other. Systems harmonization requires a comprehensive and integrated view of all digital processes as well as sound planning that takes into account the particularities of each operation, while aiming to reduce redundancy, technical complexity and costs, and to increase agility.