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Archival description
Only top-level descriptions Public welfare--British Columbia
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Memorandum (incomplete) of Social Assistance Branch

  • GR-0636
  • Series
  • 1944

Incomplete memorandum on the Department's Social Assistance Branch, prepared by E.W. Griffith, Assistant Deputy Provincial Secretary.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Newspaper clippings and other material

  • GR-0638
  • Series
  • 1906-1908

This series consists of newspaper clippings concerning public health and the campaign to establish an institution for the treatment of tuberculosis. Includes one photograph, "Lepers at D'arcy Island".

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Correspondence

  • GR-2819
  • Series
  • 1939

One correspondence file of the Superintendent of Welfare and one case file of an individual who applied for assistance. The files contain memoranda and correspondence of the Superintendent and one welfare visitor with the Unemployment Relief Branch of the Dept. of Labour, the Supervisor of the Destitute, Poor and Sick Fund, the Canadian Legion, and various government agents.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary. Superintendent of Welfare

Records pertaining to care of indigents and destitute persons

  • GR-0150
  • Series
  • 1911-1925

The series contains records pertaining to the care of indigents and destitute persons created by the Dept. of the Provincial Secretary between 1911 and 1925.

Files consist of applications for relief, supporting documents from police constables and government agents, case files, administrative reports, and general correspondence. Reports on unemployment in specific communities in British Columbia, ca. 1911-1918 are also included.

Records created prior to 1923 were filed numerically and constituted a separate records series within the Provincial Secretary's office. Records created after 1923 were kept alphabetically, by name of applicant. Regrettably, contemporary registers and indices for these records have not survived.

Although it was "the duty of every city and district municipality to make suitable provision for its poor" [Municipal Act, RSBC 1911, c.170 s.526], the Department of the Provincial Secretary was largely responsible for the care of indigents and other destitute people in British Columbia. In fact, prior to the creation of the Department of Health and Welfare in 1946, the Provincial Secretary's office was often the only source of support for deserted wives and children, indigent widows and elderly persons, disabled workers and others in need of public welfare.

The Provincial Secretary administered funds to such groups through charitable accounts, the Workmen's Compensation Board, the Provincial Board of Health, and other agencies. At the local level, relief payments were often distributed by Provincial Police constables or Government Agents.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Records of executive directors

  • GR-4254
  • Series
  • 1971 - 1980

The series consists of the Ministry of Human Resources executive director records created between 1971-1980 in British Columbia. The records relate primarily to child welfare and other related responsibilities within the Family and Children’s Services Division of the ministry. Some of the records were created and received by the ministry’s predecessor, the Department of Human Resources. The records document family support services, child welfare services, and the operation of three institutions that care for individuals with disabilities: Woodlands, Tranquille, and Glendale. The ministry’s service delivery model was organized on a regional basis, defined by geographic area. Records document the regional delivery of programs related to adoptions, foster homes, family support homemakers, and rehabilitation services for children. Records from other divisions in the ministry relate to income assistance, health care, rehabilitation and support services, and seniors’ services. Governing legislation includes the Adoption Act (RSBC 1986, c. 5), Protection of Children Act (RSBC 1967. c. 38) and the Social Assistance Act (RSBC 1973, c. 81), among others. Some of the records document the transfer of all property, functions, and employees of the Vancouver Resources Board (VRB) to the provincial government.

The series is arranged alphabetically by topic and some of the series is arranged by the executive director's initials: R.K. Butler; T.D. Bingham; R.J. Burnham; and S.G. Travers. Some of the records also contain an additional file code. The records consist of correspondence, reports, meeting materials, and program and policy documents. These records are covered under the Executive Records Schedule (102906).

British Columbia. Ministry of Human Resources

Vancouver Resources Board records

  • GR-2921
  • Series
  • 1953-1975

The series consists of records of the Vancouver Resources Board include some records of the Children's Aid Society of Vancouver, the Vancouver City Welfare and Rehabilitation department and a very small number of files from the Hastings Sunrise Community Resource Board and the Grandview Woodland Community Resource Board.

Vancouver Resources Board

Ministry of Human Resources ads

  • GR-3584
  • Series
  • 1979

The series consists of television commercials and public service announcements made by the Ministry of Human Resources, with the participation of the Ministry of the Attorney-General, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health in 1979 as part of the "Year of the Child and Family in B.C."

British Columbia. Ministry of Human Resources

Social assistance case files

  • GR-0276
  • Series
  • 1947-1974

The series consists of a random sample of social assistance application case files from various provincial field offices. Each file title provides the name of the field office followed by the name of the client. A file code provides lists the type of service.

File codes used include: AFH - Application to be a foster home AHP - Application for adoption of a child CIC - Child in Care CHIR - [social assistance for training at a vocational school] FS - Family Services OAA - Old Age Assistance OASB - [Old Age Assistance Board] PAH - Pending Adoption PFH - Pending Foster Home SA - Social Assistance SAS - Social Assistance for a single person SA1P - Social Assistance for a single parent SA2P - Social Assistance for two parents SAC - [Social Assistance Child] UPA - Adoption Planning WI - Welfare Institution licensing

British Columbia. Dept. of Social Welfare

Policy administration manual and other material

  • GR-0620
  • Series
  • ca. 1930-1940

This series consists of a manual containing memoranda, correspondence and forms pertaining to the administration of policy by officials in the Provincial Secretary's Department, 1940-1950.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Dept. of Health and Welfare executive records

  • GR-0117
  • Series
  • 1948-1966

The series consists of the office files of Alex Porteous, the administrative assistant to the Minister of Health (later the Associate Deputy Minister of Mental Health Programs) created between 1948 and 1966. His job description included public relations for the Ministry and the files relate mostly to public relations work for the B.C. Hospital Insurance Service, but also to the Mental Health Services and the Social Welfare Branch.

The files contain speeches of senior ministry officials, press releases, internal publications of several of the branches and divisions and general subject files of research material.

British Columbia. Dept. of Health and Welfare

Royal Commission on Municipal Taxation (1933)

  • GR-0802
  • Series
  • 1933-1934

This series consists of records of the Royal Commission on Municipal Taxation, 1933-1934. The commissioners, judge of the County Court of Vancouver, Andrew M. Harper (chairman) and Alexander McDonald Paterson, Reeve of Delta Municipality, were appointed on 22 May 1933. They were charged with investigating all matters relating to municipal taxation in British Columbia as well as the financial relationship between the Government of British Columbia and the municipalities. Commission records consist of Provincial Secretary correspondence file Pi 13/33 which includes a copy of the letters patent appointing the commissioners, transcripts of evidence presented at proceedings and the commissioners' original, signed report. In their report, the commissioners addressed responsibility for social services including mothers' pensions, administration of justice, schools and education, mental hospitals, unemployment relief, etc.

British Columbia. Royal Commission on Municipal Taxation (1933)

Provincial Secretary diary journal

  • GR-2014
  • Series
  • 1899-1900

Volume II, July 1899 - Feb 1900 (vol. I not extant), of a Diary Journal kept by the Provincial Secretary, Charles Augustus Semlin, noting appointments and letters inward relating to many aspects of the office.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Indigent Fund administration files

  • GR-0289
  • Series
  • 1914-1933 [predominant 192-]

The series consists of records created by the Deputy Provincial Secretary between 1914 and 1933 pertaining to the administration of funds for the "aid of the destitute, poor, and sick."

Between 1872 and 1942, an annual vote of funds was included in the estimates of the B.C. legislature. The fund, which was administered by the Office of the Provincial Secretary, originally contained $500. By 1935, this figure had risen to $110,000; but in the fund's final year of existence, 1943, the vote of funds had declined to $40,000.

The Indigent Fund, unlike the Mother's Pension, the Old Age Pension (1927), or the Veterans Assistance plans was not tied to an Act of Parliament, and thus relief was provided to people under a wide range of circumstances, and included many who failed to qualify for assistance under specific federal or provincial schemes. The fund was designed to meet the immediate and shortterm needs of rural B.C. residents (municipalities had their own funds) who through misfortune or bad planning had found themselves without "the necessities of life." The key to the fund, until the early 1930s, when the position of Superintendent of Welfare was created, was the Deputy Provincial Secretary, for it was often at his discretion that assistance was provided. He was aided in his duties by the various Government Agents, who were responsible for handling vouchers, disbursing cheques, and reporting to Victoria any new developments in individual cases. They, in turn, were assisted by Provincial Police constables who usually investigated each case and submitted a report.

The records consist of correspondence inward and outward from the Deputy Provincial Secretary's office; correspondence from Government Agents to the Deputy Provincial Secretary; Provincial Police reports on the condition of Indigents; correspondence from indigents or persons representing them to the Premier, Ministers, and the Deputy Provincial Secretary; and miscellaneous correspondence to and from various government departments and agencies such as Workman's Compensation Board, Department of Immigration, public hospitals, police departments etc.

The files are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the indigent. They are not, however, arranged alphabetically within each folder. There are two alphabetical series, as well as two sets of files titled "miscellaneous". All files have been preserved in their original order.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Social Welfare executive records

  • GR-0365
  • Series
  • 1958, 1963-1969

This series consists of files of the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare. Most files are arranged alphabetically by title.

British Columbia. Dept. of Social Welfare

Provincial Home (Kamloops) records

  • GR-0366
  • Series
  • 1920-1975

This series includes records of the Provincial Home, Kamloops, also known as the "Old Men's Home" from 1920-1975. Records include correspondence with the accounting division, Canada Dept. of Health and Welfare, and patient case files (1930-1950).

British Columbia. Provincial Home (Kamloops)