Collections

Oak Bay Archives’ community records have been generously donated by individuals, families, businesses, and organizations in our community.

They are often also referred to as family, business, personal or private papers. “Private” refers to the documents’ origins (as opposed to public records created e.g. by local government), rather than their current status. Most of the community records at Oak Bay Archives are available to historical researchers. There are specific exceptions, which include personal information that is protected by BC’s privacy laws.

Find a summary list of collections.

Please note, this list is incomplete online. Please contact the Archivist for further details.

How can I view records and find out more? 

Records can normally be viewed at Oak Bay Archives by appointment in advance.

Please note that cataloguing is incomplete and ongoing. Cataloguing priorities may be influenced by research requests. More information about the collections can be requested from the Archivist. Some of the photographic holdings in these collections have been digitized and are available to search online.

Do you want my historic records?

Oak Bay Archives welcomes donations of records of persons, families, businesses and organizations that help to document the history of Oak Bay. We collect mainly textual and photographic records, as we do not have specialist storage or conservation facilities for most types of objects.

Archives normally collects original records rather than copied or published material, except where these provide valuable context to original archival material.