Guides: Government Information: Canada

Federal government website

For a quick introduction to the Canadian federal government, see topics like House of Commons in The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Government of Canada
Official Government of Canada website. Use the search function to find reports, articles, and other documents on particular issues.

Directory information

Departments & Agencies
Link to websites for each federal department, agency, crown corporation, special operating agency and other affiliated organizations.
Government Electronic Directory Services (GEDS)
Searchable directory of federal public servants.

More about government legislation...

Learn more about the Canada Gazette
The official newspaper of the Government of Canada since 1841, publishing new statutes, new and proposed regulations and various government and public notices.

Tools to locate federal government documents

Government of Canada Publications - Advanced Search
Searches for publications in the federal Depository Services Program (DSP) collection. Not a complete record of federal government publications (departments sometimes fail to submit their works), but quite comprehensive. Many of the publications are available full-text, in digital format. Selective federal government publications are also available in the CapU library catalogue and in our Canadian Public Policy Collection (CPPC) database.

Canada Commons
A collection of publications from Canadian public policy institutes, government agencies, advocacy groups, think-tanks, university research centres and other public interest groups. Formerly known as desLibris or the Canadian Electronic Library (CEL).
The organizations included in this collection represent the leading edge of primary research and opinion in all areas of Canadian public policy. There are more than 20,000 titles in the current collection to date, and the service provides more than 3,000 additional current documents to subscribers each year.
GALLOPP
This portal provides one-stop access to more than 320,000 electronic provincial, territorial and federal government publications and legislative materials dating back to 1995.
Provided by the Association of Parliamentary Libraries in Canada (APLIC), the Government and Legislative Libraries Online Publications Portal (GALLOPP/PPGPE) allows users to search for documents by keyword or full‐text and then link to the electronic copies of the materials hosted by the collecting federal, provincial, or territorial government and legislature libraries.

Depository Services Program (DSP) Weekly Checklist
The Weekly Checklist of Canadian Government Publications lists Government of Canada publications that are catalogued and distributed to Depository Libraries by the Depository Services Program.
DSP Subject Thesaurus
Lists the search terms used by Publications Canada. It's a very large PDF file, not a searchable database.
Commissions of Inquiry
Privy Council Office. Includes links to an index of federal royal commissions and full-text archive. The index includes over 7,000 publications produced by more than 200 commissions.
Substantive Reports of Committees
Searchable list of reports on special or major topics by committees of the Senate and the House of Commons since 1867 to the present. Includes links to full text for recent reports.
Major Legislative and Special Study Reports by Senate Committees, 1961-2010
Arranged by name of committee. Some overlap with 'Substantive Reports of Committees' searchable database listed above, but includes legislative as well as substantive reports. Does not include links to full text.

How to find annual reports

Annual reports are a great source of information on government activity. There can be annual reports for

acts (Canada Health Act)
offices (Office of the Correctional Investigator)
councils (The Canadian Judicial Council)
tribunals (Canadian Human Rights Tribunal)
departments (Bank of Canada)
commissions (Indian Claims Commission)
agreements (The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement)
boards (National Energy Board)

To find Canadian government annual reports, search for name of the government department in the Title field of the Government of Canada Publications website followed by ‘annual report’, ie, Bank of Canada Annual Report.

In the search results look for a record that is in electronic format (i.e., Format: Electronic) and that has an open issue date (i.e., Issue: 1996/1997 --)

In the Publication Type field click on 'Browse Issue Records' to bring up a list of the annual reports by date. Click on a title link and you’ll find a record with a downloadable PDF file.

How to find statistics and census publications (part 1)

You can use the 'Departmental Catalogue Number' field on the Government of Canada Publications website to find Statistics Canada publications (i.e., 81-582 will retrieve records with links to PDF files of the series "Education Indicators in Canada").

Statistics Canada search tools (part 2)

Specialized search tools
A summary of the search tools for Statistics Canada publications including the Census, CANSIM database, etc.
Index of downloadable Statistics Canada publications
This site is decommissioned but it lists all the Stats Can time series.
Statisics Canada Publications
Lists Stats Can publications as they are produced but you can search for publications by key word or by subject.

Government legislation

These are links to sites that describe and track the legislative process.

Canadian Parliamentary Research Publications: A Research Guide
Staff of the Parliamentary Research Branch (PRB) of the Library of Parliament work exclusively for Parliament conducting research and providing analysis and policy advice to Members of the Senate and House of Commons and to parliamentary committees on a non-partisan and confidential basis. The documents provide background and analysis of issues that may arise in the course of their Parliamentary duties.
Justice Laws Website
The online source of the consolidated acts and regulations of Canada. The consolidations are generally updated on a weekly basis. As of 2009, these online sources are 'official'. Site includes constitutional documents.
LegisINFO
Essential tool for tracking progress of bills through parliament since 2002. Includes links to press releases, opposition reports, and articles about proposed legislation.
Legislative Summaries
From the Library of Parliament. Concise summaries and background info on proposed government legislation. Updated as the bills are revised during the legislative process.
Parliamentary Business
Parliament of Canada website with links to Hansards debates, Journals, Orders and Notice Papers, and other activities of the House of Commons.
Historical Debates of the Parliament of Canada
Searchable Hansard database, from 1867 up until coverage begins in the 'Parliamentary Business' site above.
OpenParliament.ca
Up-to-date, community-driven tool for tracking individual MP activities and voting records, topics being discussed in parliament, recent votes, and more.

Library of Parliament Research Publications

The LoP produces excellent briefing documents on timely topics. The Library of Parliament Research Publications site includes:

Current Publications
Background papers which provide in-depth studies of policy issues.
HillNotes
Concise overviews of current and emerging issues of immediate interest, with links to related resources and recent news clippings. Mobile-friendly.

Access to information

InfoSource: Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information
Designed to assist the public in exercising their rights under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act. Identifies the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) coordinators for each government unit.
Searchable Summaries of Access to Information Requests
Database of ATIP summaries for 'key federal institutions'. Covers from 2012 onward.

Government spending

Expenditure Database
From the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
The Government Expense Plan and The Main Estimates
From the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Public Accounts of Canada
From the Receiver General for Canada.