LibGuides: Government Information: BC

Quick search

This customized Google search engine searches over 600 government websites in Canada. To limit your results to provincial government websites, use the "Provincial" filter tab at the top of your result list.

TIP: You may want to include the name of a specific province (example: "British Columbia") in the search box.

Search BC Legislative Library catalogue

BC Legislative Library Catalogue
Excellent source of BC reports. Use the Advanced Search screen to search by keyword or subject term, and limit results to 'BC Government Publications', if needed.
BC Government Publications Search Portal
Full-text search of BC government documents which were published digitally or which have been digitized by the BC Legislative Library (BCLL). More limited scope than library BCLL's library catalogue, but you can search full-text.

Tools to locate information produced by ANY provincial government

Carleton Library's Government Information Search Box
Default search is for all levels of government in Canada. If you want only provincial sources, you can filter your search results by clicking on "Provincial Documents" at the top of your result list.
GALLOP: Government & Legislative Libraries Online Publications Portal
From the Association of Parliamentary Libraries in Canada (APLIC). It is intended as a one-stop access point to full-text searchable electronic government documents collected by Legislative libraries in Canada for their jurisdictions. New search platform launched in 2025.
Federal and Provincial Royal Commissions, Commissions of Inquiry, and Reports
Browse collection by Date, Author, Title, or Subject., or search by keyword. Collection digitized by Queen's University Library. Seems very selective.

BC government websites

For a brief introduction to BC governance, see the Encyclopedia of BC (KnowBC) under headings such as 'Legislative Assembly', 'Cabinet', 'Premier'.

BC Legislative Assembly
BC Government Directory
BC Legislative Library
An excellent source of information about the BC government.

Access to information

Some government information may not be made readily-available to the public, but can be requested under the terms of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA).

For more information, see the website for the BC Ministry of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government.

Open Information BC
Search for material released through BC Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
Secret Canada
Searchable database of FOI request summaries for federal, provincial and municipal governments, as well as miscellaneous bodies. Created by the Globe & Mail newspaper.
Administrative Records Classification System
The system used to classify, file, retrieve and dispose of the administrative records of the Government of British Columbia. Useful when preparing Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Note that there are also Operational Records Classification Systems and Special Schedules.

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Guidance documents used to be publicly-available but have been restricted to BC government employees since February 2025. Archived versions of the Records Management Glossary and Records and Information Management Manual are available through the Wayback Machine.

Historical BC government publications

Publications of the Government of British Columbia, 1871-1947 (PDF)
BC Royal and Special Commissions Checklists, 1872 - 2005
All reports after 1980 are available through the BC Legislative Library's catalogue. Most reports published between 1872 and 1980 have also been digitized.
BC Sessional Papers
Searchable collection of the sessional papers from from 1875-1940. Digitized by UBC Library.

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The British Columbia Sessional Papers are an annual collection of selected papers tabled in the Legislative Council of British Columbia (2nd to 8th Sessions, 1865-1871) and the Legislative Assembly (1st to 32nd Parliaments, 1872-1982).
The British Columbia Sessional Papers contain materials that document the political, historical, economic and cultural history of British Columbia. The Sessional Papers include official committee reports, orders of the day, petitions and papers presented, records of land sales, correspondence, budgetary estimates, proclamations, maps, voters lists by district, and departmental annual reports.
Note: This collection only includes 1875-1940 thus far.

KPU Library

Government Information