| Archives
of Ontario
Research Guide 212
The Archives of Ontario holds newspapers, in both original
and microfilm format, from most Ontario cities and towns.
The collection dates from 1793 to approximately 1930. The
Archives also has a unique collection of multilingual newspapers
from Ontario’s multicultural communities, dating from
1930 to 1987, as well as a number of non-Ontario and speciality
newspapers, such as labour movement newspapers.
Holdings of the major current Toronto newspapers are limited
to the Globe and Mail, 1844 to 1917; and 1928 to
1931. The Toronto
Reference Library has copies of the Star,
the Telegram, the Sun, current issues of the Globe
and Mail, and other more recent Ontario newspapers.
Finding Newspapers at the Archives of Ontario
To find a newspaper within the holdings of the Archives
of Ontario, you usually need to know where the newspaper
was published. If you do not know where the newspaper was
published, there are indexes available that will help you
find this information.
- Do you know where the newspaper was
published?
- If not, do you know the name of the
newspaper (masthead)?
- Do you want to find a multicultural
newspaper?
- Do you want to find a newspaper published
outside of Ontario?
- Are you interested in the publication
and ownership history of a newspaper?
- What if the Archives of Ontario does
not hold the newspaper you need?
1. Do you know where the newspaper
was published?
Consult Finding Aid L 23 Original and Microfilm
Newspaper Collections in the Archives
of Ontario [MS
Word (3.6M), PDF (964K)]
(in the Genealogy Reference Area of the Main Reading Room).
Refer to Appendix A5 for lists of newspapers available on
microfilm, organized alphabetically by place of publication.
If the newspaper is listed:
- Note the microfilm N number (e.g. N 481). Find the microfilm
in the newspaper microfilm cabinets (cabinet numbers 33
to 46, with green labels) which are arranged by N number.
If there is more than one reel of microfilm for the newspaper,
the label on each microfilm box will tell you the exact
dates contained on that reel.
If the newspaper is not listed as part of our microfilm
collection:
- Consult Appendix A2 of Finding Aid L 23
[MS Word (3.6M),
PDF (964K)]
which lists original newspapers by place of publication.
Original Toronto newspapers are listed by name in Appendix
A3.
If listed as part of our collection of originals1:
- Note the container number in the far right hand column
(e.g. 13-2).
- Arrange to have the newspaper retrieved for you by submitting
a Records and Papers Request Slip to the Circulation
Desk. Use the container number as the reference code.
2. Do you know the name of the newspaper
(masthead)?
To find the place of publication, consult the Title Index
in Section 2 of Brian Gilchrist’s Inventory of
Ontario Newspapers, Toronto: Micromedia Limited, 1987,
available in the Main Reading Room.
Once you know the place of publication, follow the directions
described in Step 1 above.
3. Do you want to find a multicultural
newspaper?
If you know the place of publication, follow the directions
described in Step 1 above.
If you only know the name of the newspaper, or if you want
to locate the newspaper for a specific ethnic group, consult
one of the following:
4. Do you want to find a newspaper
published outside of Ontario?
If you know the place of publication, consult Finding
Aid L 23 Original and Microfilm Newspaper
Collections in the Archives of Ontario ,
Appendix A5 [MS
Word (3.6M), PDF (964K)],
which lists microfilmed newspapers alphabetically by place
of publication.
If the newspaper is not listed in L 23
, Appendix A5 [MS
Word (3.6M), PDF (964K)],
consult:
- Non-Ontario Newspapers, 2 volumes, (available
in the Main Reading Room) which list original newspapers
within our holdings by jurisdiction and then alphabetically
by the name of the newspaper.
For other sources of newspapers published outside Ontario,
see point 6 below.
5. Are you interested in the publication
and ownership history of a newspaper?
Consult Newspaper Collections: Microfilm Introductions
(available in the Main Reading Room). These binders contain
a brief history of the ownership, publication and historical
context of most microfilmed newspapers, as well as a list
of contents indicating which editions are missing. The entries
are listed by microfilm reel number (for example, N 11).
To find the N# consult Finding Aid L 23 Original
and Microfilm Newspaper Collections in the Archives of Ontario,
Appendix A5 [MS
Word (3.6M), PDF (964K)].
The history and list of contents are also on the microfilm,
at the beginning of each newspaper.
6. What if the Archives of Ontario
does not hold the newspaper you need?
Consult these other sources:
 Notes:
- Please note that we also hold the original newsprint
for many of the microfilmed newspapers; however to preserve
the originals, researchers must use the microfilm. The
listings in Appendices A2 and A3 are of newspapers for
which we hold only the newsprint.
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