In the article “Orders-in-Council: What you can access online” we learn that Library and Archives Canada holds the Privy Council Orders-in-Council published between 1911 and November 1, 2002. However, many of them are not available online. You must therefore do your research on site to find the full references.

Can’t come in person? You can send a reference request using the form Ask Us a Question, or you can hire a freelance researcher. Please note that our research services are limited.

Privy Council Office fonds

Orders-in-Council are part of the Privy Council Office fonds, series “Orders-in-Council,” sub-series “Minutes, Annexes and Reports.” The entire group is identified by the document group number RG2-A-1-a, an essential part of the reference number.

Indexes and registers

It is important to first consult the annual registers and indexes, which list all the Orders-in-Council submitted by the Privy Council Office and provide details to be included in the references (including order numbers and approval dates). Most registers are bound to their respective indexes.
A number of indexes and registers are on microfilm; please see the list in finding aid FA 2-6.

Finding aids

After finding the necessary information in the indexes and registers, you must consult the finding aids to identify the numbers of the volumes in which the orders are held. The volumes are filed in numerical order and can be found using the approval dates.
Finding aid FA 2-39 covers the period from 1867 to 1987. For orders approved in 1988 and after, you must consult other finding aids.

References

Now you have all the information you need to put together full references: order numbers, approval dates, and document and volume group numbers. For example:

PC 1967-813 dated May 4, 1967 = RG2-A-1-a, vol. 2374

We will be publishing a blog post in the near future about accessing Orders-in-Council.

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