Category Archives: Student

Written by Mina Guan, a student in the Dual Master of Archival Studies and Library and Information Studies program at the University of British Columbia.

Mr. Wade Grant (Vancouver Quadra), MP

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Wade Grant,

I am writing to you today as an archival student and constituent to express my concerns about the elimination of the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) by Library and Archives Canada, due to recent budget cuts by the federal government.

The DHCP supports the preservation of and access to Canada’s documentary heritage for Canadians, particularly material that is often overlooked by bigger institutions. Since 2015, it has provided funding to support more than 400 projects that have allowed small, community-based organizations to preserve and provide access to archives of marginalized, minoritized, and underrepresented groups, including Indigenous communities.

These organizations are crucial to my archival training. They have provided student placements for my peers and I, during which we have the opportunity to gain hands-on communities’ histories we care deeply about. For instance, the past 5 months, I have been fortunate to work with the Faculty Organizing for Community Archives Support (FOCAS) Project in collaboration with the Hogan’s Alley Society (HAS), a Black-led non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, economic, and cultural well-being of people of African descent in Metro Vancouver. Through this internship, I have developed archival policies and plans for HAS’s prospective archive in anticipation of upcoming community consultation sessions.

Moreover, these organizations are often at the forefront of innovative and conscientious archival practice. Attuned to the needs and desires of their communities, they develop creative and thoughtful methods of processing, digitizing, preserving, and sharing records that expand upon traditional theories and practices taught in classes. For example, through my work, I have developed digital preservation workflows which take into account consent, withdrawal, access, and description, critical considerations which respond to ways that Black community members have been unjustly represented through archival holdings.

I have also come to understand the challenges HAS faces: they operate with limited staff and volunteers and reply on grant programs to sustain their operations. For small community archives such as the HAS’s prospective repository, funding is a major factor in the longevity and sustainability of the archive’s operations and we would look to DHCP as one of the only funding grants available for the archive.

I decided to pursue archival studies because of a passion for supporting the collective memory. By providing critical support to community archives, the DHCP is essential to sustaining the archival landscape I hope to begin my career in. I respectfully ask that you advocate for ther estoration of the DHCP or a comparable program with dedicated funding support for community-based documentary heritage work.

Thank you for your time and for representing our community. I would appreciate knowing your position on this issue and any steps you are taking to address it.

Yours sincerely,

Mina Guan

Written by Vanessa Lee, a student in the Dual Master of Archival Studies and Library and Information Studies program at the University of British Columbia.

June 28, 2026

The Honourable Marc Miller, P.C., M.P. Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Miller:

I am writing to you today as an archival student and constituent to express my concerns about the elimination of the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) by Library and Archives Canada, due to recent budget cuts by the federal government.

The DHCP supports the preservation of and access to Canada’s documentary heritage for Canadians, particularly material that is often overlooked by bigger institutions. Since 2015, it has provided funding to support more than 400 projects that have allowed small, community-based organizations to preserve and provide access to archives of marginalized, minoritized, and underrepresented groups, including Indigenous communities.

These organizations are crucial to my archival training. They have provided student work placements for my peers and I, during which we have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience applying course content to a real-world setting and contribute to the preservation of communities’ histories we care deeply about. I am currently conducting an internship at VIVO Media Arts Centre, which holds the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archive. The library and archive holds over 8000 videos documenting the history of video art, as well as social and political movements in Canada. Many of these videos were created by and document the history of marginalized communities, including LGBTQ2S+ and Indigenous activists and organizations. Moreover, they hold valuable expertise and equipment necessary to digitize media on the verge of obsolescence, such as ½” open reel tapes (they are one of two organizations in the region with the equipment needed to transfer these tapes). Without VIVO’s careful stewarding and specialized skillset, these videos, and the stories they hold, would be lost.

I have also come to understand the challenges VIVO faces: they operate with limited staff, volunteers, and a modest budget. They have received DHCP grants in the past, which have been essential to their survival. Unlike other funding programs, the DHCP offered considerable amounts of funding for a diverse range of projects. For instance, through their most recent DHCP grant, they were able to preserve and facilitate access to videos central to 1970s community cable activism and programming. They had plans to apply to the program for future projects but are now left without recourse.

Moreover, I have been fortunate to have been trained with innovative archival literature based on the practices and ideological frameworks of community-based archives, such as VIVO’s. This literature considers the diverse perspectives of archive users and subjects that have been neglected or harmed by traditional archival theory and advocate for alternative routes forward that are rooted in care, consent, trust, and respect and celebrate diverse ways of knowing and living. Through this growing body of knowledge, archivists-in-training like myself can learn to do right by the people and histories represented in the archives we will work in in the future.

I decided to pursue archival studies because I was motivated to preserve and highlight the contributions of those historically omitted from dominant narratives. By providing critical support to community archives, the DHCP is essential to sustaining the archival landscape I hope to begin my career in. I respectfully ask that you advocate for the restoration of the DHCP or a comparable program with dedicated funding support for community-based documentary heritage work.

Thank you for your time and for representing our community. I would appreciate knowing your position on this issue and any steps you are taking to address it.

Yours sincerely,

Vanessa Lee