Collection search - Veterans Land Administration, Loan Files, B.C. Region [textual record]

This accession contains B.C. loan case files for the Veterans Land Act. For the initial period (1945-1951) these are a rich source of documentation, registering the veterans' declared pre-war employment, property holdings, as well as other veterans benefits received. The assessments of loan applications and the applications themselves illustrate the networks of social influence available to returned veterans. The "progress reports" on farm loans follow the critical early years of making the transition to farming. The seemingly endless correspondence over delayed payments and impending defaults shows both the economic difficulties experienced by veterans and the range of civil servants' attitudes (and on occasion, politicians' attitudes when veterans called on MPs'). The loans initiated later (say, after 1960) are far less full or interesting for research purposes.

These records were originally held in British Columbia. They were transferred to the National Capital Region in 2016 and are available for consultation there.