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History and Timeline

The Association of Canadian Archives (ACA) began prior to 1975 when members of the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association (CHA) developed and ratified an independent mandate. The ACA Constitution was ratified at the 1975 meeting of the CHA in Edmonton. The first issue of Archivaria and the Archives Bulletin were also published this year, and the Association held its first annual conference in Quebec City. The ACA was incorporated in 1977. 

Below is a timeline with some highlights from the ACA since 1975.

1975

  • ACA constitution ratified at the last meeting of the Archives Section of the CHA in Edmonton
  • Published first issue of Archivaria, edited by Peter Bower
  • Published first issue of Archives Bulletin, edited by Linda Johnson
  • Held first annual conference in Edmonton
  • Co-founded the Bureau of Canadian Archivists with the AAQ
  • Guidelines Toward a Curriculum for a Master’s Degree in Archival Science prepared by Hugh Taylor and Edwin Welch

1976

  • Published the Directory of Canadian records and manuscript repositories
  • Tradition of dancing at the ACA banquet begins in Fredericton with a square dance
  • Annual conference held in Quebec City

1977

  • ACA incorporated
  • First east-west baseball game played at the annual conference
  • Annual conference held in Fredericton

1978

  • Awarded first honorary membership to W. Kaye Lamb
  • The Archives Bulletin becomes the ACA Bulletin
  • Annual conference held in London, Ontario

1979

  • Presented brief to the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee
  • Annual conference held in Saskatoon

1980

  • Awarded the first W. Kaye Lamb Prize to Ian E. Wilson for the best article in Archivaria, with Dr. Lamb in attendance
  • Annual conference held in Montréal

1983

  • Special Interest Sections created for University and College Archives and Religious Archives
  • Supported the creation of the Canadian Council of Archives
  • Annual conference held in Vancouver

1985

  • First ACA Membership Directory is distributed
  • ACA hires its first Office Manager, Gina Meacoe. It marked a significant milestone inthe maturing of the association (and profession), and could no longer afford to have Board members' energies spent processing memberships on their kitchen tables after the dishes were done.
  • Annual conference held in Edmonton

1986

  • Annual conference in Winnipeg is the last held as part of the meetings of the Learned societies
  • Produced Guidelines for the Development of a two-year Curriculum for a Master of Archival Studies

1987

  • Annual conference held in Hamilton

     1990

    • Collaborated with the Canadian archival community in the development and publication of Rules for Archival Description
    • Produced Guidelines for the Development of Post-Appointment and Continuing Education and Training Programmes
    • Annual conference held in Victoria

    1991

    • Published The Archival Imagination: Essays in Honour of Hugh A. Taylor, edited by Barbara Craig
    • Developed the Education Programme and Plan
    • Special Interest Section on Electronic Records formed
    • Annual conference held in Banff

    1992

    • Collaborated with the SAA in the publication of Canadian Archives and the Rediscovery of Provenance, edited by Tom Nesmith.
    • Annual conference held in Montréal

    1993

    • Annual conference held north of 60° in Whitehorse, Yukon
    • ACA web site launched, co-edited by Catherine Bailey and Paul Marsden
    • Annual conference held in St. John's NL

    1996

    • Special Interest Section on Aboriginal Archives formed
    • Annual conference held north of 60° in Whitehorse, Yukon

    1997

    • Terry Cook and Barbara Craig lead the first ACA Institute in Ottawa
    • Annual conference held in Ottawa

    1998

    • Annual conference held in Halifax

    1999

    • AGM passes a unanimous resolution supporting the release of historical federal census records
    • Special Interest Section on Personal Archives formed
    • Annual conference held in London, Ontario

    2000

    • Annual conference held in Edmonton

    2001

    • Mentorship pilot program launched in cooperation with the AABC
    • Collaborated with the SAA in the publication of Imagining Archives: Essays and
    • Reflections by Hugh A. Taylor, edited by Terry Cook and Gordon Dodds
    • Membership grows to over 600 members
    • ACA moves into shared offices with the CCA
    • Annual conference held in Winnipeg, MB

    2002

    • Annual conference held in Vancouver, BC

    2003

    • First Student Chapter formed at the University of British Columbia (SLAIS)
    • Archivaria 56 published, special edition containing a 396-page index, a testament and guide to Canadian archival scholarship

     2004

    • Engaging and exciting conference held in Montréal, QC
    • Review & Renewal project launched with survey of members & non-members

     2005

    • Engaging and exciting conference held in St. John’s, NL
    • ACA digitizes the entire collection of Archivaria issues & posted on the web

     2006

    • e-Archivaria formally launched with its Main & Reserve Collections
    • Canadian Archivist digitized and posted on the web
    • Engaging and exciting conference held at Queen’s University in Saskatoon, SK

    2007

    • Reviewed General Bylaw (from R&R recommendations) approved at AGM
    • Engaging and exciting conference held in Kingston

    2008

    • Reviewed General Bylaw #2 (from R&R recommendations) approved at AGM 
    • Engaging and exciting conference held in Fredericton, NB 

    2009

    • First ACA conference held in Calgary, AB is very well attended, offers excellent sessions and is financially successful
    • A new look and structure is introduced for ACA’s website

    2010

    • Archivaria is awarded an A+ in an international review of journals
    • New web 2.0 services are introduced to the Members website

    2011

    • Advocacy efforts directed to 2011 Census,
    • Event listing service is introduced to the ACA website
    • A Task Force is established to revise the Education Guidelines

    2012

    • The Canadian Archives System Taskforce (CAST) established
    • A very engaged and animated conference is held in Whitehorse, YT
    • Advocacy efforts directed to the reinstatement of the National Archives Development Program (NADP)
    • The ACA Foundation completes the Continuance process under the new Canada Not-for-Profit Act

    2013

    • A very engaged and animated conference is held in Winnipeg, MB
    • Members approved addition of a sixth Director to the ACA Board of Directors
    • An Experts and Consultants Directory is introduced on the ACA website while a workshop on Consulting is held in Victoria
    • The ACA Bulletin move from print to a blog format

    2014

    • Annual conference held in Victoria, BC
    • Maureen Tracey joins the ACA as Client Services Coordinator

    2015

    • Annual conference held in Regina, SK

    2016
    • Annual conference held in Montréal, QC

    2017

    2018

    • Moving Forward Together, 2018-2021 Strategic Plan is endorsed by members in the ACA’s first online vote
    • Members endorse a revised Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
    • Annual conference is held in Edmonton, AB
    • The ACA Board passes the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Response Protocol

    2019

    • Annual conference is held in Toronto, ON

    2020

    • March 2020, the World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic, for the first time, the annual conference is hosted online with Vancouver as the anchor location with Emily Lonie transitioning the in-person program to an online event.
    • ACA Equity Commitments are passed by the ACA Board and all activities, committee work, and events are guided by these commitments.
    • The annual awards ceremony is held virtually for the first time.
    • "All Shook Up" The Archival Legacy of Terry Cook, Tom Nesmith, Greg Bak, and Joan M. Schwartz (editors) is published in collaboration with the Society of American Archivists

    2021

    • A very successful annual conference was hosted online for a second time, with the anchor location in Toronto and organized with the leadership of Grant Hurley.

    2022

    • For the first time, the ACA annual conference was organized as a hybrid event with participants in-person at the University of British Columbia and online from around the world.
    • The Steering Committee for Canada's Archives releases, The Reconciliation Framework

    2023

    • The ACA Conference returned in-person, held in Charlottetown, PEI.
    • The ACA hires Gillian I Leitch as Executive-Director.
    • The Strategic Framework is presented to members in May 2023.




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      Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4

      Tel:  613-383-2009

      Email: aca@archivists.ca

      The ACA office is located on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.



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