The ACA Membership Committee is pleased to announce that applications for the 2026 cohort of mentors and mentees is now open. Applications will be open until December 15, 2025 with pairing completed by the end of January. 

The program aims to integrate new archivists (mentees) into the Canadian archival community by matching them with experienced archivists (mentors) who advise and guide them on career and professional development, with an added option for archivists who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour (BIPOC) to meet together.

Being a volunteer mentor is a rewarding opportunity for ACA members with at least 5 years of experience as an archivist (exceptions possible). BIPOC mentors who require financial assistance are eligible for a limited number of subsidized individual memberships.

Students and new professionals applying to be mentees must also be ACA members. New professionals identifying as BIPOC can request the ACA's student membership rate if they require financial support to participate.

Mentors are matched with mentees based primarily on shared interests and secondarily on geographic location.  The Membership Committee is grateful to partner with the ACA's BIPOC Special Interest Section, who will match BIPOC-to-BIPOC mentorships.

More details on the mentorship program and application forms are at archivists.ca/Mentorship

Send questions about the program to Mentorship Program Coordinators Susan McClure and Heather Hubert  at mentorship.program@archivists.ca

The forms can be accessed here.

Kind regards,  

Membership Committee 

The Rasmuson Foundation is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for Canadian archives, libraries, museums, and other memory institutions to take part in a digitization initiative focused on the Arctic Circumpolar region.

With funding from the Rasmuson Foundation, this project will support the digitization of primarily textual collections (including ephemera), related to: the Arctic/Circumpolar; Canadiana and Northern regional histories; the fur trade, including materials connected to the voyageurs and trade routes extending into Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; Canadian railroad history, particularly as it relates to northern expansion and infrastructure; and First Nations cultures and histories, especially those of the North and the Northwest Coast (British Columbia).

The work will be carried out primarily at the Internet Archive Canada digitization centre in Toronto. Participating institutions will receive full digital copies of their materials.

Access & Reuse: All digitized content will be made available on archive.org, collections will also be featured on a dedicated digital portal for Arctic and Northern materials: https://circumpolarnavigator.org/.

Timeline: All projects must be completed by October 2026.

How to Get Involved: If your organization holds relevant collections, please complete and submit the digitization inquiry form: https://digitization.archive.org/contact-us/ or express your interest by emailing loren@archive.org.

We plan to secure future grants and funding, so we can keep in touch with potential Canadian partners beyond whom we work with on this grant.

The Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) is pleased to launch the 2025-26 Call for Nominations for Inscription on the Canada Memory of the World Register. Please note that only those invited to the second step of the process will be asked to fill out the Nomination Form. For more information follow the link: https://en.ccunesco.ca/initiatives/memory-of-the-world

The Board of the Association of Canadian Archivists offers our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Dr. Brian Owens, Archivist Emeritus  of the Leddy Library Archives & Special Collections at the University of Windsor on his untimely passing. Brian was the first professional archivist employed at the University of Windsor, where he remained for 21 years from 1994-2015. Between 1994 and 2000, he ran the MA History (Archives) program in the University of Windsor's History Department. Prior to his time at the University of Windsor he worked for the University of Alberta library system, the Alberta Society of Archivists (now Archives Society of Alberta), the City of Calgary Archives, and the McGill University Archives. He was an active member of the Archives Association of Ontario (AAO), the Bureau of Canadian Archives, the Historical Society of Alberta and the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) where he served as secretary of the Board from 1985-1988.

The Board of the Association of Canadian Archivists would like to offer condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Paulette Dozois on her passing.  Since the early 1980s, Paulette was an active member of the ACA, first serving on the Membership Committee and later on the Public Relations Committee. Over the years she participated in many ACA Conferences, both as a presenter and as member and/or chair of several ACA Conference Program Teams. She also made contributions to Archivaria, both as an author and a member of the editorial team. Paulette was also instrumental in getting approval to form the Special Interest Section on Access and Privacy.  Her presence in the archival community will be greatly missed.

The AAQ has just released its call for papers for its 55th Annual conference, being held 13-15 May 2026 at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello. The theme is "Everything is political".

See the call here: https://www.archivistes.qc.ca/global/gene/link.php?doc_id=320&edit_lang=fr

We are pleased to announce that the reports and dataset from the first UK-wide annual sector survey are now available on The National Archives’ website for you to read: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/our-archives-sector-role/annual-uk-archive-sector-survey/findings-from-previous-surveys/archive-sector-survey-2025

This survey was conducted in partnership with National Records of Scotland, the Scottish Council on Archives, Welsh Government, Archives and Records Council Wales and Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

We received 330 responses from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and this included a vast range of services such as local authorities, universities, charities, museums and galleries, schools, businesses, arts organisations and more.

There is a UK-wide report as well as a report for local authorities, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and each region of England. The UK report and Wales report are both also available in Welsh.

Each year, our colleagues at the Society of American Archivists dedicate a day of American Archives Month to #AskAnArchivistDay, a public initiative during which archivists answer all your archives-related questions on social media. This initiative has since expanded and involves participation of archivists from around the world. Join us on October 16th, 2025 in participating by asking questions and answering questions all day. Just follow the hashtag to see what folks want to know about us!

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) is currently preparing for a new information system infrastructure. As part of the research process, we are conducting a survey that aims to gather information about digital preservation infrastructures and data storage systems across institutions in the cultural field (archives, museums, libraries, historical societies, etc.).

The survey is roughly 30 questions long, covering general information, backup and recovery, standards and compliance, cost and sustainability, management and governance and interoperability. By participating, you will be entitled to receive a summary of the findings. Direct answers from institutions will be kept confidential.

If interested, please contact Alexandra Jokinen, Digital Archivist, at ajokinen@cca.qc.ca by Friday, September 19th.

It is with great pleasure that Queen's University Archives<https://archives.queensu.ca/ invites interested individuals to submit applications to The Geraldine Grace and Maurice Alvin McWatters Visiting Fellowship for 2025-2026.

The Fellowship is designed to foster, promote, and support original archival research by scholars, authors, or artists/creatives in the collections located at Queen's University Archives.

This Visiting Fellowship has a stipend of $5,000 which is intended to help defray living, travel, or research expenses of successful applicants to come to Kingston, Ontario, Canada to conduct their research.

The deadline for submission of this year's application is Friday, September 26, 2025.

For further information and to download an application or promotional flyer, please visit our Geraldine Grace and Maurice Alvin McWatters Visiting Fellowship page https://archives.queensu.ca/lectures-fellowships/geraldine-grace-and-maurice-alvin-mcwatters-visiting-fellowship

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