How to use the completed access to information requests database

Before making an access to information (ATI) request, look through previously completed requests. This page will help you search what has already been made available.

On this page

Before you start

Follow the steps in the next section to gather information such as:

  • ATI request number
  • Item ID number
  • RG (records group), volume or file number
  • File title

Places to look

Use our Completed access to information requests database to search, view and download the release packages of some ATI requests for archival records.

Search the database using an ATI request number

If you have an ATI request number from Open Government and the records have been released by Library and Archives Canada (all disclosed or disclosed in part), you might be able to view or download them from LAC’s ATI database. Make sure you follow the search tips section below.

Search the database using information contained in the archival reference

Use Collection Search to gather information about records of interest, such as item ID number, RG, file or volume number, file title, etc. Then, make sure you follow the search tips section below.

General tips

  • Search results will appear directly below the search bar.
  • You can sort requests by the date they were submitted, either by newest or oldest, using the descending or ascending options.
  • Twenty-five results appear per page. Subsequent results can be viewed by increasing the number of items per page below the search bar.
    • You can adjust the number of results listed on each page from 25 to 50 or 100 and then clicking the Apply button.
    • You can also click on the Next button or enter a specific page number at the bottom of the page.
  • Once you click on a specific request, you can browse through the search results using the Previous and Next buttons.

Search tips

The quickest way to start is to enter a keyword in the search bar. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, try using the advanced search functions to refine your results and focus on specific fields.

Advanced search

Search by keyword

  • All of these words
    Brings only results that contain all your search words.

  • Any of these words
    Brings results that contain at least one of your search words, but may not contain all of them.

  • This exact phrase
    Limits results to the exact words you entered.

You can enter one or multiple keywords. The search tool will return results from both record titles and document bodies.

Use the wildcard search by typing partial words and using “*” to replace the endings. For example, “imm*” will bring up “immigration,” “immigrant” and other words beginning with “imm.”

The tool only returns results in the language you searched in. For example, a search for the keyword “Army” will not return unilingual French documents that only include the French word for "Army" (Armée). To view all the available results, do a search in each official language.

Request number

If you are searching for a specific ATI request number, use the same format as Open Government (for example, A-2016-00512).

Archival reference

You can select one or multiple fields from the archival reference option menu to narrow your search. Additional fields allow for more precise searching:

  • If you are looking for a specific record group (RG), enter “RG” followed by the number (for example, RG12). Do not use hyphens or spaces.
  • If you are looking for a specific file number, volume, box, etc., enter the exact combination of numbers or numbers and text (for example, ARC-3/1797-12).

File title

This field will allow you to find keywords found only in the file title.

To search through the content of the documents as well, use the keyword search explained above.

Item ID number

If you know the Item ID number (previously labelled as the MIKAN number or a dataset identifier), enter the number alone to find the specific record (for example, 4801550).

Access the records

If you find an ATI request of interest in your search, you can click on it to view the details page.

From there, you can view the documents in the integrated viewer and use tools such as zoom or full-screen mode for easier navigation. In the Contents section on the left, you can click on Details to view information about the selected thumbnail. Additionally, you can search for specific keywords within the document using the magnifier tool or the CTRL-F function, depending on your browser.

You also have the option to select and download the documents in the Release package details section below the viewer.

This database will be updated regularly. We are actively working to make more documents available to you and improving search functionalities. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can:

Start your search

Related links