The health and safety of employees and visitors is our priority. On this page, you will find the operating status by region, how to book your visit, and the services available. Should we have to close any of our facilities temporarily, we will inform prospective visitors.
Please DO NOT come in if you have COVID-19 symptoms or are awaiting test results, have been in close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or is awaiting test results, have been asked to self-isolate by public health authorities, or have travelled outside of Canada in the last 14 days and have not been exempted from mandatory quarantine.
If you are arriving from outside Canada and plan to visit one of our service points, you will need to comply with the requirements outlined on the
COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada webpage.
Current status by region
Our Halifax, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver offices operate independently, and are gradually increasing their offer of services, onsite and online.
Remote reference and genealogy services are available from all our locations.
Contact us by using our
Ask Us a Question or
Ask Us a Genealogy Question forms, or by calling 1 866 578 7777 (option 8; toll-free in Canada and the United States).
Ottawa: Open to the public—Reservation system ends on June 27
The facility located at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa is open to the public. Visits before June 27 are by reservation only, with limited seating and services. New on June 27, 2022: End of reservation system, return to full capacity and resumption of in-person reference appointments.
Services available:
- Orientation and reference
- Genealogy
- On-site consultation of collection material (ordered in advance)
Access to documents may be affected by the move of a large part of the collection to our new Preservation Storage Facility in Gatineau. For more information, consult the Moving the collection page.
Days/times:
- Open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 4 pm
- See Prepare for your Ottawa visit for information on ordering your materials and which rooms and collections are available.
Safety:
- If you are arriving from outside Canada and plan to visit one of our service points, you will need to comply with the requirements outlined on the COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada webpage.
- A face covering or mask must be worn when on the move and when consulting materials.
- Handwashing with soap and water is mandatory before handling collection materials.
- Physical distancing is recommended.
- There will be frequent cleaning.
- Clean lockers will be available to store personal items.
Halifax: Open to the public—No reservation required
The service point located in the
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, 1055 Marginal Road in Halifax, is open to the public. No reservation is needed. Please note that remote reference and genealogy services remain available.
Services available:
- Reference services.
- Orientation services.
- Booking a meeting with a LAC reference specialist.
- Digital kiosk to access LAC's databases and other subscription databases.
- Please contact us by
email or call 902 426 4031 if you have questions.
Days/times:
- Monday to Friday, 10 am to 3 pm, Atlantic Time.
- No reservation is required.
Safety:
- Hand washing.
- Frequent cleaning.
Winnipeg: Open to the public—Reservation required
The facility located at 1700 Inkster Boulevard in Winnipeg is open to the public by reservation only. Seating and services are limited.
Services available:
- In-person and remote reference and genealogy services.
- Digital copy services—local collection only.
- Orientation services.
- Booking a meeting with a LAC reference specialist.
- On-site consultations of local collections (Order your documents in advance).
- Digital kiosk to access LAC's databases and other subscription databases.
Times and how to reserve:
- Monday to Friday, 9 am to 4 pm, Central Time.
- Before visiting, please contact us by email at
winnipeg@bac-lac.gc.ca or call us at 204-984-1469 to make a reservation. You can prepare for your visit by completing your
User Card Registration if you do not already have one.
- Visitors without reservations will not be admitted.
- There is no penalty for cancelling your reservation; however, we request that you give us as much notice as possible.
Safety:
- If you are arriving from outside Canada and plan to visit one of our service points, you will need to comply with the requirements outlined on the
COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada webpage.
- A
face covering or mask must be worn at all times, including at your reserved seat.
- Handwashing with soap and water is mandatory before handling collection materials.
- Physical distancing must be respected at all times.
- There will be frequent cleaning.
- Clean lockers will be available to store personal items.
Local collection:
The Winnipeg office holds archival records from federal government offices in northwestern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Highlights from the collection include archived records from the following departments and/or their predecessors:
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and
Indigenous Services Canada (previously Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, etc.), the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Parks Canada, Canadian National Railways, Correctional Services Canada and the Canadian Grain Commission.
Vancouver: Research room open to the public—Reservation required
The research room located at 420 – 300 West Georgia Street in Vancouver is open to the public, by reservation only. Seating and services are limited.
The public service point located on the 7th floor of the Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia Street, is open to the public. Visit the page
Service Points Outside of Ottawa to see the information specific to this service point.
Services available:
- In-person and remote reference and genealogy services.
- Digital copy services—local collection only.
- Orientation services.
- Booking a meeting with a LAC reference specialist.
- On-site consultations of local collections.
- Digital kiosk to access LAC's databases and other subscription databases.
Days/times and how to reserve:
- Monday to Friday, 9 am to 4 pm, Pacific Time.
- To book your visit, please contact us by email at
vancouver@bac-lac.gc.ca or call 604 -666-9699 to make a reservation; you can prepare for your visit by completing your
User Card Registration if you do not already have a user card.
- Visitors without reservations will not be admitted.
- There is no penalty for cancelling your reservation; however, we request that you give us as much notice as possible.
Safety:
- If you are arriving from outside Canada and plan to visit one of our service points, you will need to comply with the requirements outlined on the
COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada webpage.
- A
face covering or mask must be worn at all times, including at your seat.
- Handwashing with soap and water is mandatory before handling collection materials.
- Physical distancing must be respected at all times.
- There is frequent cleaning.
- Clean lockers will be available to store personal items.
LAC's Vancouver office holds archival records created by the departments now known as
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada or the
new Indigenous Services Canada and its predecessor departments in British Columbia and Yukon.
- Follow the
step-by-step process to place a new order.
- Our rush service is suspended until further notice.
- Some delays may occur because of health and safety requirements around collection handling and the high volume of copy requests.
- Your copy order may be affected by the move of a large part of the collection to our new Preservation Storage Facility. We will contact you if this is the case. For more information, see the
Moving the collection page.
- Due to health and safety requirements related to COVID-19, the LAC Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) team is operating at limited capacity; processing delays should be expected. More information in the article:
Update – Delays in responding to Access to Information Act and Privacy Act requests.
- We have also resumed the processing of requests for documents in support of claims related to the Federal Indian Day Schools Class Action.
- All ATIP requests received on or after March 14, 2020, will be processed. Please do not resubmit your request as this may cause it to be delayed further. If there is a change in the urgency of your request, or should you have questions or concerns, please contact us by email at
bac.daiprp-atipd.lac@canada.ca. Please quote your request number in your correspondence.
- Access to Information requests are not affected by the move of part of the collection to the new Preservation Storage Facility.