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 1974.

1974

• Members gauge interest in the starting a national Association of Archivists, develop an independent mandate.

1975

• ACA constitution ratified at the Archives Section of the CHA meeting in Edmonton, AB.
  
• Published first issue of Archivaria, edited by Peter Bower
  
• Published first issue of Archives Bulletin, edited by Linda Johnson
• 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
  
• First Annual Conference held in Edmonton, AB.

1976

• Published the Directory of Canadian records and manuscript repositories
• Annual Conference held in Quebec City, QC

1977

• ACA incorporated
  
• First east-west baseball game played at the annual conference
  
• Tradition of dancing at the ACA banquet begins in Fredericton with a square dance
  
• Annual Conference held in Fredericton, NB

1978

• Awarded first honorary membership to W. Kaye Lamb
  
• The Archives Bulletin becomes the ACA Bulletin
• ACA logo was adopted, designed by Will Rueter, of UTP
  
• Annual Conference held in London, ON
  

1979

• Presented brief to the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee
  
• Annual Conference held in Saskatoon, SK

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, QC

1981

• Annual Conference held in Halifax, NS

1982

• Annual Conference held in Ottawa, ON. The theme was “Looking Outward: a Dialogue Among Users, Keepers and Sponsors of Archives”

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, BC

1984

• Annual Conference held in Toronto, ON

1985

• First ACA Membership Directory is distributed
  
• ACA hires its first Office Manager, Gina Meacoe. It marked a significant milestone in the 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, AB

1986

• Produced Guidelines for the Development of a two-year Curriculum for a Master of Archival Studies
• Annual Conference held in Winnipeg, MB. It is the last Annual Conference held as part of the Learned Societies meetings. The theme was "Preservation and Use"

 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, BC. The theme was "Facing Up; Facing Out: Reference, Access, and Public Programming"

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, BC. The theme was "Archival Appraisal and Acquisition: Building a Selective Memory"

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, QC

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. The theme was "Between the Rock and a Hard Place: Archival Theory and Practice"

1994

• Annual Conference held in Ottawa, ON. The theme was "Living with the Change in an Archival World"

1995

• Annual Conference held in Regina, SK. The theme was "Defining the Archivist's Role for the 21st Century"

1996

• Special Interest Section on Aboriginal Archives formed
  
• Annual Conference held north of 60° in Whitehorse, YK. The themes was "Homeland and Frontier" Common Ground to Share"

1997

• Terry Cook and Barbara Craig lead the first ACA Institute in Ottawa
  
• Annual Conference held in Ottawa, ON. The theme was "Archives as a Place of Custody, Memory and Information"

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, ON. "Measuring Up: Standards in Archival Practice"

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. The theme was "The Archival Odyssey"

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
  
• Annual Conference held in Toronto, ON. The theme was "What's History Go to do With it?"

 2004

• Review & Renewal project launched with survey of members & non-members
  
• Annual Conference held in Montréal, QC. The theme was "Ethics and Accountability"

 2005

• ACA digitizes the entire collection of Archivaria issues & posted on the web
  
• Annual Conference held in Saskatoon, SK. The theme was "Theory and Practice"
  

 2006

• e-Archivaria formally launched with its Main & Reserve Collections
  
• Canadian Archivist digitized and posted on the web
  
• Annual Conference held in St. John's, NL. The theme was Living on the Edge: the Place of Archives into the Heritage and Culture Community"

2007

• Reviewed General Bylaw (from R&R recommendations) approved at AGM
  
• Annual Conference held in Kingston, ON. The theme was "As Others See Us: Archivists and Society"

2008

• Reviewed General Bylaw #2 (from R&R recommendations) approved at AGM 
  
• Annual Conference held in Fredericton, NB 

2009

• A new look and structure is introduced for ACA’s website
  
• Annual Conference held in Calgary, AB. The theme was Rights, Responsibilities, Trust: The Next Generation of Archivists"

2010

• Archivaria is awarded an A+ in an international review of journals
  
• New web 2.0 services are introduced to the Members website
  
• Annual Conference held in Halifax, NS. The theme was "Standing on the Shoulders of Gants: The Next Generation of Archivists"

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
• Annual Conference held in Toronto, ON. The theme was "Back to Basics"

2012

• The Canadian Archives System Taskforce (CAST) established
  
• 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
  
• Annual Conference held in Whitehorse, YK. The theme was "In Search of Archival Gold"

2013

• 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
  
• Annual Conference held in Winnipeg, MB. The theme was "Community as Archives, Archives as Community"

2014

• Maureen Tracey joins the ACA as Client Services Coordinator
  
• Annual Conference held in Victoria, BC. The theme was "Archivatopia"

2015

• Annual Conference held in Regina, SK. The theme was "Perspectives on the Archival Horizon"

2016

• Annual Conference held in Montréal, QC. The theme was "Futur Proche': Archives and Innovation"

2017

• The ACA Board passed the Association of Canadian Archivists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
  
• ACA hires Jo McCutcheon as Executive Director
  
• Annual Conference held in Ottawa, ON. The theme was "Archives,  Disrupted"

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
  
• The ACA Board passes the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Response Protocol
• Annual Conference is held in Edmonton, AB. The theme was "Truth, Trust and Technology"

2019

• Annual Conference is held in Toronto, ON. The theme was "Lets Start at the Beginning: Archival Origins"