Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was established August 26, 1991, with a mandate to investigate and propose solutions to the challenges affecting the relationship between Indigenous peoples, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society as a whole. Its final report was published in 1996.
This collection includes digitized versions of all documents and testimony gathered by the RCAP, as well as every volume of the final report.
On this page
Search tips
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In the All of these words box, enter a keyword such as a place, topic or person’s name.
- Optional: To find a transcript for a specific date, enter the date in the format YY-MM-DD (for example, 92-11-05).
- If you don’t know the exact day or month, enter a partial date (for example, 92-11 or 92).
- Optional: for Language, select “English” or “French”
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Optional: For Document type, use the drop-down menu to refine your search:
- Intervenor Project Submissions
- RCAP publication
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Research report
- Theme
- Project area
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Transcript
- You can also filter by province or city.
About the records
This collection provides access to several kinds of documents that supported the writing of the RCAP’s final report:
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Intervenor Project Submissions
- Statements submitted by non-governmental groups to the RCAP such as the Canadian Medical Association and the Native Brotherhood of B.C.
- Most are available in English only.
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RCAP publications
- Updates and final reports of the RCAP, including overviews of public consultations and reports on special topics such as self-government and criminal justice.
- Each report is available in both English and French.
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Research reports
- Findings from studies conducted as part of the RCAP's research program.
- Most are available in English only.
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Transcripts
- Verbatim transcripts of the 96 public hearings held between April 1992 and December 1993.
- Hearings were held across Canada, many in smaller communities. For more details, consult Appendix 4 of Toward Reconciliation: Overview of the Fourth Round.
- Most are available in English only.
Other places to look
The final report is available in both print and online formats:
- Canada. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Georges Erasmus, and René Dussault. 1996. Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Ottawa: The Commission. Online version.
Print copies of materials produced by the RCAP—such as briefs, publications, opening statements and videos—are available in our published collection. Use our library catalogue, Aurora, to search for these documents:
- Start with an author search for “Canada. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples” and then narrow your results by using the filters on the left-hand side of the screen.
Original copies of the documents are available in our archival collection:
- Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Reference: R2847-0-7-E, RG33-157). Consult the lower-level descriptions and any finding aids for more information about what we hold.
Please note that these other copies do not usually include more details than what you see in this database.
If you need help locating an RCAP document, please don’t hesitate to ask us a question.
Access the records
The digitized documents in this database can be downloaded for personal use. We do not provide copies of them.
For documents that are not digitized in either the published or archival collection, you can:
- Order a copy of the document
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Visit our Ottawa location to view the item in person. Before your visit:
- Pre-order most published material through Aurora.
- Pre-order archival material using the Material Retrieval form.
- See examples of references for help with what details you need to submit in our forms.
For restricted archival material, you can submit an Access to Information request. Read Archival document restrictions and access codes for help on understanding access codes and how to know if materials are restricted.