Are you searching for the Debates of the House of Commons, also known as Hansard? Depending on the dates you are looking for, a great place to start your research is online. However, only the very early years and the very recent years are available online; those in between are not.

Here is the breakdown:

1867–1900

The full texts of Hansard for the years 1867–1900 are available online through the Early Canadiana Online (ECO) website [http://eco.canadiana.ca/?usrlang=en]. While some of the content in ECO is only available to subscribers, the Debates of the House of Commons are available for free and do not require a subscription.

1901-1993

Hansard for the years 1901–1993 are not yet available online. Library and Archives Canada holds these years in print and in microform. Many university and public libraries hold print or microfilm/microfiche copies of Hansard. Please contact your library for more information. If you are a university or college student, check your school library website to see if there is a research guide for government or parliamentary publications, which can save you a lot of time.

Library and Archives Canada has participated in a project to digitize the full-text of Hansard for 1901-1993. When this digitized content is available online, we will post an announcement on this blog.

1994-Present

The full texts of Hansard from the 35th Parliament (January 1994 onwards) are accessible online from the Parliament of Canada website [www.parl.gc.ca]. Select “Parliamentary Business” (top left), then “In the House of Commons Chamber” (left column). Choose the Parliament and Session from the list on the left.

Tips

• The Debates are always organized by Parliament and Session. A handy reference tool to find the Parliament and Session [www.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/Lists/Parliament.aspx?Language=E] that correspond to the dates you are looking for is available on the Parliament of Canada website.
• The Debates have detailed indexes. In the early years, these indexes were in the same volume as the Debates. In the later years they were printed in a separate volume.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!