Content last reviewed:
- Welcome to the Canadian Government Information Subject Guide, a starting point to help you with your research. Please contact us if you need assistance.
Introduction:
Canada has 3 levels of government: federal, provincial and municipal. For an overview of the governance structure and responsibilities of governments in Canada, see Forsey, Eugene A. (2016). How Canadians Govern Themselves. 9th edition. For information on the distribution of legislative powers between the federal and provincial governments, see The constitutional distribution of legislative powers.
Note: The library has an extensive print collection for documents published by the Canadian government (CA1) and by the provincial and territorial governments (CA2). These are located on Floor 1 and filed using the CODOC classification system.
Government of Canada website: find information on current programs and services offered by the Canadian government, including a listing of Federal departments and agencies.
- Government of Canada Publications: search for publications and reports using keywords, catalogue numbers or by departments or agencies.
- Justice Laws Website: find the consolidated Acts and regulations of Canada.
- Library and Archives Canada (LAC) catalogue: to explore LAC's collection of newspapers, magazines, Canadian official publications, theses, monographs, maps, music, and more.
- Open Data Canada: Get open datasets created by the Government of Canada
- Open Government Portal: publications and information resources produced by the government of Canada.
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Statistics Canada: find news, figures and publications on Canada’s economy, society and environment. Includes a Browse by subjects search tool.
Parliament of Canada: find information on the work conducted in the House of Commons and the Senate, including members, committees, business calendars and bills.
- Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources
- Library of Parliament research publications: search for current and emerging issues, legislation and major policy topics.
- LegisInfo: search for bills (legislation before Parliament) dating back to 1994.
The Supreme Court of Canada: find information on the role of the Court, the judges (past and present), cases in brief, news releases, etc.
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Canada Supreme Court Reports: find complete reports dating back to 1878.
Ontario
Ontario Government official website: find news releases, current ministries, agencies and public appointments, Ontario budget information and public accounts.
- Ontario open data
- Publications Ontario: free and "for a fee" publications. Please ask the library before you purchase a document.
Legislative Assembly of Ontario: find members of provincial Parliament (MPPs). House and Committee documents, including proposed laws, and videos of House debates.
- Ontario Legislative Library catalogue
- The Ontario Gazette: official publication for legislative decisions, new statutes and regulations.
e-Laws: Access official versions of Ontario laws and regulations online.
Other provinces and territories:
Quick Start: Go to Provinces and Territories (Government of Canada) to get a quick link to provincial/territorial websites.
To search for documents from other provincial and territorial governments, please see the Key Databases section in this guide.
Ottawa Area:
- City of Ottawa
- Ottawa Resource Collection: Special collection curated by the Carleton University Library.
Municipalities in Ontario:
- List of municipalities in Ontario
- How municipalities and Ontario work together
- Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Association of Municipalities of Ontario
Information on municipalities in Canada:
- Muniscope: publications relating to urban, regional and rural settings (sponsored by the Provincial-Territorial Officials Committee on Local Government (PTOC)
- Federation of Canadian Municipalities
- Canadian Urban Institute
Statistics Canada
The federal agency responsible for providing Canadian statistics. Provides statistics and data on a wide variety of topics from over 350 active surveys and statistical programs.
- Subjects: search by topic for statistics, articles and reports
- The Canadian Census - Canada's biggest source of demographic data, which is sent to every Canadian household. The census is conducted every five years.
- Census Program Website (2021) - Statistics Canada's portal to access Statistics from the Census of Population. Since 1996 each Census year has had its own website. Access Census results from 1996 - 2021.
- Census Profile (2016/ 2021) - Get demographic variables from the Census for a wide variety of census geographies. This includes large areas such as Canada and the Provinces to smaller areas like municipalities and Census Tracts.
- 2021 Census of Population Data Products
- Canadian Census Analyser (via CHASS) - Has Census profile data from 1961 - 2021. A useful tool for getting historical data, data for many different geographies, mapping and analysis.
- Census Datasets (1981-2021)
- Finding and Using Statistics: provides quick tips on how to find, read and use data.
- Definitions, Data Sources and Methods has terminology and methodology information for Statistics Canada surveys. Direct access to questionnaires is also provided.
- InfoGuide: Historical Sources - Provides a list of historical sources of statistics and data from Statistics Canada
- Trade Analyser (via CHASS) Includes tables for world trade, and separate extensive tables for Canadian imports and exports.
Federal Government
Open Data Portal: The Government of Canada produces and acquires data in areas such as health, environment, agriculture, and natural resources. This website provides a "single-window" to data already published by individual departments and agencies on their public websites.
- Open Data 101: quick reference guide on Canada's Open Data initiative
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Industry Canada
Transport Canada
Canadian Libraries (Internet Archives): includes government documents (federal and provincial) from Canadian academic libraries, research libraries and government libraries.
Canadian Public Documents Collection: collection of monograph publications from Canadian research institutes, government agencies and university research centers working in the area of Canadian public policy, health and medical research.
Canadian Research Index: provides citations and abstracts to many Canadian government (federal and provincial) publications, including annual reports, scientific and statistical reports and policy papers. (content can also be retrieved from the Microlog microfiche collection located on Floor 1)
Canadiana Online: Digital repository containing historical primary sources. The Government Publications collection includes over 1.7 million pages of historical pre-1920 colonial, provincial and federal government documents.
GALLOP: (Government and Legislative Libraries Online Publications Portal): provides one-stop access to full-text electronic provincial, territorial and federal government publications and legislative materials dating back to 1995.
Canadian Government Publications Portal (Internet Archive): includes documents from the federal and provincial government.
