Library and Archives Canada (LAC) yesterday announced it has resumed its copying service.
Its locations in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Halifax, however, remain closed to the public. The Vancouver research room is open by appointment only.
According to LAC’s website, “Some delays may occur because of health and safety requirements around collection handling and the high volume of copy requests” and “rush service is suspended until further notice.”
So, where does that leave my request for a Second World War service file that I submitted in October 2018 — more than two-and-a-half-years ago?
In a December 2018 letter from LAC’s Personnel Records Office confirming receipt of my request, LAC said they were “currently experiencing delays in our response time.”
The letter explained it would take “approximately ten months” to fill my request, which would have been by about October 2019 — several months before the pandemic slowed down supply management in businesses around the world, including in archival centres.
I waited two years before trying another tactic. I submitted an Access to Information and Privacy request in November 2020 for the same WWII service file and my father’s service file, along with a $5 payment for each. Both were rejected and refunded.
Now that the copying service has been reinstated, where do requests such as mine stand in the queue?
Or are lengthy deliveries the new norm at LAC?
