Program directory · Library and Archives Canada
Preservation
- Department
- Library and Archives Canada
- Program code
- BSI04 (LAC)
- Core responsibility
- Acquiring and preserving documentary heritage
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
LAC manages vast collections of material to ensure its preservation for the benefit of current and future generations. This program includes the activities related to the physical management of the analog collection, specifically circulation and storage; restoration and conservation to help prevent deterioration and repair damage; reproduction and the making of copies to ensure the preservation of material that would otherwise be too fragile to access; and management of special-purpose buildings that offer optimal storage conditions to prevent the deterioration of records and ensure their physical integrity, authenticity, and long-term preservation. It also includes the digital operations by which LAC preserves and manages content, such as digitization, migrating content to digital formats, and web archiving, as well as innovative strategies implemented to ensure the integrity and authenticity of digital documentary resources and their current and long-term preservation.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preservation | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $314M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Spending $40.6M, against $29.6M in 2020-21 (+37%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Spending $84.1M, against $40.6M in 2021-22 (+107%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $52.5M, against $84.1M in 2022-23 (−38%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned employees (FTEs) 99, against 151 in 2024-25 (−34%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators added: Number of images from LAC collections digitized | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators dropped: Number of terabytes of digital material preserved including born digital and digitized documents | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 1,800 | 2019 | 892 In 2018–19, LAC faced reduced demands for digital preservation, due in part to the completion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force digitization project. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 1,800 | 2020 | 1,234 This fiscal year’s result represents a 38% increase over the previous fiscal year. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 1,800 | 2021 | 628 Results are lower than the target due to the pandemic-related closure of the audiovisual lab and digitization services during Q1 and Q2, and in January and February 2021. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 600 | 2022 | 1,153 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 1,200 | 2023 | 1,955 | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 1,500 | 2024 | 2,274 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 1,500 | 2025 | 2,037 | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 30,000,000 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $34.8M | $28.9M |
| 2019-20 | $67.8M | $31.1M |
| 2020-21 | $45M | $29.6M |
| 2021-22 | $41M | $40.6M |
| 2022-23 | $86.1M | $84.1M |
| 2023-24 | $51.2M | $52.5M |
| 2024-25 | $44.5M | $47.1M |
| 2025-26 | $44.3M | — |
| 2026-27 | $43M | — |
| 2027-28 | $44.3M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $45.1M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 128 | 113 |
| 2019-20 | 128 | 129 |
| 2020-21 | 122 | 123 |
| 2021-22 | 143 | 115 |
| 2022-23 | 140 | 115 |
| 2023-24 | 150 | 138 |
| 2024-25 | 122 | 151 |
| 2025-26 | 99 | — |
| 2026-27 | 84 | — |
| 2027-28 | 84* | — |
| 2028-29 | 83* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $34,782,972 | $68,849,532 | $45,115,741 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $67,819,569 | $44,001,096 | $42,090,037 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $45,040,070 | $43,174,131 | $43,027,059 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $41,001,711 | $78,087,770 | $44,276,844 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $86,058,539 | $47,008,965 | $39,612,110 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $51,215,460 | $43,763,869 | $43,308,113 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $44,537,369 | $44,115,647 | $42,798,012 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $44,339,771 | $43,022,280 | $44,278,348 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $42,964,193 | $44,310,318 | $45,050,124 | ||||||||
| Actual | $28,949,372 | $31,054,437 | $29,568,229 | $40,644,969 | $84,090,455 | $52,537,884 | $47,057,015 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
