After 145 years of documenting the country’s history, the Canada Year Book will no longer be published.
Statistics Canada published the last edition of its longest-running publication on Tuesday. It is the last such print publication and will not continue as an online resource (the current edition as well as a 1867-1967 historical edition is online). Langara Library
Langara Library has the print edition for 1968 – 1980/1981, 1985 – 2001, 2006-2011 (2012 pending) along with links to the online editions.
In Statistics Canada Daily for November 13th, the announcement saying it “will continue through other means to keep Canadians informed about their social and economic life.”
The Globe and Mail covered the story in the article “The Canada Year Book is History” noting:
“The agency, in the midst of deep budget cuts, said ebbing demand was the chief reason for discontinuing the book. It printed just 3,000 copies of this year’s edition – down from 12,000 books 15 years ago (recent years saw some copies of the book left unsold). Readers are increasingly seeking more current online data and publications, said Gabrielle Beaudoin, director general of communications.
Several of the people working on the publication have retired and might not be replaced, she added.”
Beaudoin later explains that “In the future, we will have summary tables that have the exact same information as in the Canada Year Book, but it’s up to date every month or every three months…the new way of accessing information is online so we’re just moving to that”
