LibGuides: History: Canadian History

Find Resources on Canadian History Using Library Search

Search Seneca Libraries for library resources on your Canadian history research topic. Watch a refresher on how to use Library Search.

More Resources

Background Information

The following resources provide overviews on Canadian history topics.

Encyclopedias & Databases

Canadian Encyclopedia Online This link opens in a new window
(Historica) Provides access to information about Canadian personalities, places, events, history and achievements.
Details and Terms of Use
Britannica Online This link opens in a new window
(Encyclopaedia Britannica) Online access to the Encyclopdia Britannica as well as Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, the Britannica Year in Review, a World Atlas, and a country comparator.
Details and Terms of Use
Canada in Context This link opens in a new window
(Gale) Provides access to Canadian content including biographies, news, essays and podcasts.
Details and Terms of Use
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online This link opens in a new window
(University of Toronto/Universite Laval) Provides access to authoritative biographical information about significant figures of Canada's past, including both detailed articles on Canada's major historical figures, and short articles on minor personages.
Details and Terms of Use

Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada

eBooks

Canadian Newspapers

The following databases and websites contain newspaper articles on Canadian history topics.

Library Databases

Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database This link opens in a new window
(ProQuest) Part of ProQuest Central. Provides access to a broad range of Canadian magazines, newspapers, and journals.
Details and Terms of Use
Canadian Newsstream (formerly Canadian Major Dailies) This link opens in a new window
(ProQuest) Part of ProQuest Central. Canadian Newsstream provides access to 700 Canadian newspapers from Canada's leading publishers, including the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. This full-text database includes electronic compilations from most newspapers, providing access to articles, columns, editorials, and special publications from each. Some compilations date from the late 70s.
Details and Terms of Use
Ontario Community Newspapers (formerly Our Ontario Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
(OurDigitalWorld) Community and historical newspapers of Ontario with content going back to the 1800s.
Details and Terms of Use

Websites

Canadian Historical Newspapers (BGSU Libraries) Links to historical Canadian newspapers available online
Canadian News Online

Canadian Historical Collections

The following websites includes information and materials related to Canadian history.

Canada

Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada - Collections
A-Z list of online collections at Library and Archives Canada
Archives Canada
Official archival portal maintained by the Canadian Council of Archives (CCA)
Canadiana.org
A coalition of memory institutions dedicated to providing broad access to Canada's documentary heritage.
Canadian Letters and Images Project
"An online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves. "

Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
(Adam Matthew) Primary source documents on the interactions between indigenous persons and colonizers in North America Africa, and Australasia.
Details and Terms of Use

Ontario

Archives of Ontario

Our Ontario This link opens in a new window (OurDigitalWorld) Find digital photos, maps, videos, podcasts, and documents about Ontario people, places, events, history and culture from the collections of Ontario libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, community groups, government agencies, and content organizations.
Details and Terms of Use

Online Videos

The following online video databases contain videos covering a variety of Canadian history topics.

Can-Core Academic Video This link opens in a new window
(McIntyre Media) Canadian video collection with content from CTV, BBC Learning, Blue Ant Media, Good Earth Productions, Passion River Films, and more.
Details and Terms of Use
Curio.ca (including CBC News in Review) This link opens in a new window
(Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)) Educational videos from CBC and Radio-Canada: documentaries from television and radio, news reports, archival material, stock shots and more. Our subscription includes selected, not complete, News in Review content only.
Details and Terms of Use
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Collections of educational and news films from Films Media Group and Infobase covering a wide range of subject matter. Studios represented include PBS, BBC, Films For Humanities & Sciences, National Geographic, TED, and others.
Details and Terms of Use
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
(Kanopy) Full-length streamed videos including popular documentaries, feature films, and professional educational films covering the arts, business, education, global studies, health, media and communication, science, social science, and technical training.

- Users must create a separate Kanopy profile to use this service, using a Seneca Polytechnic email address to set up the account.
- Mobile access requires use of a separate Kanopy app.
- Kanopy videos will not display in classes delivered via MS Teams or Zoom. Share the link for the film instead, ask viewers to open another browser tab and view the film or scene, and then return to class in Teams or Zoom.
Details and Terms of Use
NFB.ca (National Film Board of Canada) This link opens in a new window
(National Film Board of Canada) Public performance rights to selected films produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Documentaries, animations, alternative dramas, trailers, and interactive productions on the Web.
Details and Terms of Use

TVO Archive

Historical Statistics of Canada
The second edition of Historical statistics of Canada was jointly produced by the Social Science Federation of Canada and Statistics Canada in 1983. This volume contains about 1,088 statistical tables on the social, economic and institutional conditions of Canada from the start of Confederation in 1867 to the mid-1970s.
Canada Year Book (1867-1990)