A broad collection of digitized primary resources related to all Canadian history including monographs, serials, annuals, newspapers, and government documents.
This collection of primary sources and teaching links pulls together online archives, websites and databases of primary sources about a wide range of topics in Canadian history. Linked resources cover both general history (including a selection of historic maps) and subject-specific topics, ranging from regional settlements and Indigenous affairs to politics and studies of social issues.
An index of over 1,500 digitized Canadian heritage collections located at various Canadian universities, provincial and territorial libraries, heritage organizations, archives, and more.
The museum provides access to primary source materials through online exhibitions that focus on Canadian and world history and civilizations. A digital catalogue allows you to search through more than 218,000 artifacts from the museum’s collections of photos, film, periodicals, and other textual primary resources. Links are provided to the catalogues of related historical institutions. The Teachers' Zone provides packages of high-quality content, primarily for grades 3-5. Each package features a collection of digitized museum artifacts, archival documents, video clips, audio clips, and activity suggestions for the class.
An entirely digital collection of exhibits featuring primary sources and case studies related to a range of topics in Canadian history. Digital exhibit projects formerly available through the Virtual Museum of Canada website may be accessed via the Archive.
Research help for Library and Archives Canada collections. Guides are sorted by popular topics including genealogy, Indigenous history, military history, and more. This A-Z Guide allows filtering by topic, type, and keyword search.
Since 2008, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has uploaded selected images to their Flikr photostream in the spirit of improving access to Canada's documentary heritage.
The NFB's award-winning online Screening Room features over 3,000 productions, including documentaries, animations, experimental films, fiction and interactive works in both French and English. When browsing by subject, many film resources related to the study of Canadian History can be found.
A digital collection of primary source materials documenting anglophone colonial expansion in North America, Africa and Australasia from 1650-1920. Various materials (largely anglophone-created) related to relationships between European colonizers and Indigenous peoples around the world can be found under the Indigenous Peoples section. Further resources are sorted into Thematic Guides which cover key themes such as Health and Medicine, Law and Order, and Government and Politics.
The digital collection of Québec’s library and archives is home to thousands of primary documents and images related to Canadian and Québécois history. Many materials are in French.
This collection provides access to over 71,000 pre-1930 Canadian pamphlet and broadside holdings of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. It features items that are printed in Canada, by Canadian authors, or about Canadian subjects, mainly of a non-literary nature. The pamphlets and broadsides are available in full colour and the contents of each item are fully searchable.
Students and teachers use primary documents to solve long-standing mysteries and cold cases from Canadian history. Each mystery includes a variety of lesson plans and scalable levels of student engagement.
This collection, created by Library and Archives Canada, features Canadian recordings from 1900-1950. The site also features educational resources for teachers, including suggestions for classroom activities tied to the studies of history and of music.
A database of digitized resources related to the history of the University of Manitoba and the history of the province as a whole. Collections related to Indigenous histories, and particularly those of the Metis, can be found under the Aboriginal Peoples subject heading.
This site provides information on the 250-year relationship between Moravian missionaries and the Inuit of Labrador. The collection features a number of primary source documents including photographs, maps, and manuscripts.
Contains 1,482 authors and over 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
This vast collection of letters, diaries, oral histories, and interviews provides a personal view of what it meant to immigrate to North America between 1800 and 1950.
This online archive collects letters and images written and taken by Canadians at war, dating to pre-1914, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. The website also features a series of Teacher Resources, including Lesson Plans and additional resources.
The Canadian War Museum hosts multiple online learning resources which include primary sources. Resources range from virtual exhibitions to customizable modules.
This online archive created by The Canadian War Museum houses digitized newspaper clippings from Canada during the years of World War II with contextual introductions.
The Memory Project is a volunteer organization that arranges for veterans and Canadian Forces members to share their stories of military service. The digital archive, hosted by Encyclopedia Canada, features oral histories and interview transcripts. The Memory Project is an initiative by Historica Canada.
This publication from the Government of Canada provides an overview of the history of The Nursing Sisters of Canada and their roles in World War I and World War II. Features links to digital collections of primary source documents related to individual Nursing Sisters.
This pathway contains primary sources held at the Royal BC Museum that relate to three different British Columbia experiences during the First World War: Nursing Sisters Ellanore Parker and Murney Pugh; Frank Swannell; and The BC Bantam Battalion.
A large collection of multimedia spanning Canada's involvement in World War I to present conflicts involving the Canadian Armed Forces. Be sure to look into the Educator Resources and Student Resources.
This resource from The Juno Beach Centre invites students to learn about how the story of the Dieppe Raid changes based on who is telling it. A full lesson plan has students create a 'primary source web' to explore narratives surrounding D-Day.
Canadians in a front line trench during the First World War, February 1918. Photo: Library and Archives Canada / PA-2468 (CC) Retrieved from: Veterans Affairs Canada
