Motivation The Digital Cultural division was created to provide services that speak to the Federal Government of Canada’s digitization strategy to develop and provide wide access to a critical mass of Canadian heritage information in a digital format. This multi-pronged strategy fosters a framework that emphasizes access to knowledge for all communities, a greater appreciation of national cultural heritage, the provision of vetted educational materials, and the facilitation of lifelong learning. The Government’s underlying assumption behind this Digitization Strategy is that “digital information and networked technologies are key drivers of economic growth and social well-being in the 21st century.” In the digital economy, nations that nurture their digital information assets and infrastructure will prosper, while those that do not will fall behind.

Positioning The raison d’être behind our own Digital Cultural Division includes the inventory, preservation, and dissemination of cultural heritage and memory for the purposes of education and communication, while using technology to strengthen notions of identity and community between citizens and communities.

As the creator of the “Natives Voices” Series, we are proud to have facilitated collaboration amongst a diverse range of cultural, educational, and private sector partners, and to have contributed to the enlargement of Canada’s rich cultural heritage by digitizing materials deemed to be of cultural, historical and aesthetic significance to this country.