Library and Archives Canada has released its Annual Departmental Results Report for 2024-2025, revealing a year of significant digitization achievements alongside persistent challenges in request processing and facility standards.
You’d think the report would warrant inclusion on the main page under Updates. It isn’t. That’s a pity, as some significant progress is being made.
Preservation: Nearly Perfect Performance
LAC met seven of eight targets for its core mandate of acquiring and preserving documentary heritage. The single shortfall involved maintaining proper environmental standards across all preservation facilities—a critical measure for protecting analog collections from deterioration.
Digitization Reaches Seven-Year High
The department’s most notable success came in digital access. LAC digitized 10 million images from its collections, far exceeding its 6.5 million target and marking the highest output since 2017-18.
Two major projects drove this achievement. The Day Schools Project alone accounted for 5.8 million digitized images, including textual records, photographs, maps, and architectural plans documenting the Federal Indian Day School system. This material provides crucial documentation for researchers and Indigenous communities seeking historical records.
A new partnership with Internet Archive Canada, announced in June 2024, contributed another 2.8 million images by March 2025. The collaboration focuses on copyright-free publications from the 1300s through the 1920s, making rare historical materials freely available online. The initiative has already processed over 14,000 publications.
Despite these gains, LAC met only four of eight indicators for providing access to documentary heritage—the same performance level as the previous year, suggesting stagnation in some access measures.
ATIP Backlog Shows Improvement, But Remains Below Target
Processing of Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests continues to lag, though the department has made measurable progress. LAC completed 66% of requests within required timeframes, up from 55% the previous year but still short of its 70% target.
The backlog affects researchers, journalists, and citizens seeking government records—a tension between LAC’s role as both guardian and gatekeeper of public information.
Looking Ahead
The report also details ongoing preparations for Adisoke, the joint facility that will house LAC and the Ottawa Public Library’s central branch when it opens.
The complete Annual Departmental Results Report for 2024-2025 is available, but buried on LAC’s website. To get there from the LAC landing page, follow the chain Library and Archives > About LAC > Transparency and reporting > Reports and publications > Departmental results reports.