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Government Information

a pathfinder for finding government information.

Government of Canada Publications

  • Government of Canada Online Publications Catalogue - The Depository Services Program (DSP) provides access to most federal government publications dating back to 1991. Up until March 2014, the catalogue included both print and portable (downloadable) electronic publications. Documents published since March 2014, are only available in downloadable electronic format.
  • Government of Canada print publications in the Dalhousie Libraries can be found in the Novanet Catalogue. Documents produced prior to 1998 were normally classified according to provenance and received a call number beginning with 2 FG (FG standing for Federal Government). Thus, most print Government of Canada publications are shelved according to the agency or department that produced them. Since that time, many documents have received call numbers that reflect their subject content and will be found shelved with the materials in the main library collections by subject.
  • Government of Canada Web Archive - (2005-2007 and 2013-). The web archive contains information that sits outside of the traditional Government of Canada Publications program and can include everything from communications and marketing materials to departmental policies, procedure and guidelines. Essentially everything that has been made publicly available on Government of Canada websites. The University of Toronto has created an archive that covers the 2007-2013 gap in the official archive. See https://archive-it.org/collections/3608

Canadian Legislative and Parliamentary Information

  • Debates of the House of Commons and Senate . The debates are a verbatim transcript of what was said. Print copies are available under call numbers DOC 2FG X 1 (House of Commons) and 2FG Y 1 (Senate) in the Government Documents Area on the second floor of the Killam Library.
  • Journals of the House of Commons and Senate. The journals contain a summary of the proceedings. Print copies are available under the call numbers DOC 2FG X 2 (House of Commons) and 2FG Y 2 (Senate) in the Government Documents Area on the second floor of the Killam Library.
  • Canada Gazette is the official newspaper of the Government of Canada. It provides notices of new statutes and regulations, proposed regulations and decisions of administrative boards.
  • Historical Resources
    • The Library of Parliament has debates, journals, committee documentation and bills of both the Senate (1867-1996) and the House of Commons (1867-1994). It also contains the Senate Minutes of Proceedings, the Rules of the Senate, the House of Commons Votes and Proceedings, and the Standing Orders of the House of Commons. Historical sessional papers are also available from 1867 to 1901.
    • Early Canadiana Online has a similar set of resources.
  • LegisINFO provides a way to track Bills through Parliament. It contains detailed information on all bills introduced after 2001 and brief information (title, number and sometimes summaries) for bills introduced between 1994 - 2000. Historically this information was published in the Index to the Journals and Debates of the Senate and House of Commons. See "Historical Resources" above for legislation prior to 1994.
  • Orders-in-Council are issued by the Privy Council Office and address a wide range of administrative and legislative matters, from civil service staffing to capital punishment, and from the disposition of Aboriginal lands to the maintenance of the Parliamentary Library.

Departmental Catalogues

  • Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada - Focuses on First Nations people and the Canadian North. Other subject areas include Canadian history and law, economic development, governance, the environment, management, public administration, information management and information technology.