Series consists of records created and maintained by the Canadian National Railways Office of the Director of Colonization and Agriculture for the period 1919-1963. These records, sometimes known as the Devlin papers after T.P. Devlin who was in charge of the Department for much of its existence, cover every aspect, both administrative and operational of the Department. Note that records of the department were considered similar to the Canadian National Land Settlement Association.
The records document Canadian National's efforts to obtain settlers, their placement on the land and their progress in both report and pictorial form. They include reports, policy and correspondence files, files concerning individuals and organizations (usually identified by ethnic origins), community progress reports, settlement proposals, shipping files, relations with various governments and copies of publications. There is also much internal administrative and financial material.
Departmental material was classified in various file blocks, including some of the following highlights
1000 = Administration
1005 = Accounts
1035 = Personal Files
1105 = Canadian National Land Settlement Association
1110 - 1120 = Edmonton, Prince George, Saskatoon Offices
1410 = London Office
1415 - Toronto office
2025 = Immigrant Arrival Statistics
4010 = Advertising and Publicity
5011 = Individual Boat Arrival Files
5100 - 5200 = Immigration and Colonization (By Nationality)
5500 = Immigration and Colonization - Organizations and Schemes
6000 = Land Settlement Reports
9000 = Steamship Companies
9005 = Airlines
For further details, please see lower level sub-series descriptions, including:
MIKAN 180435 Saskatoon Office of the Department of Colonization and Agriculture
MIKAN 5085592 Canadian National Land Settlement Association Reports and Photographs
MIKAN 5123574 Canadian National Land Settlement Association Annual Reports
MIKAN 5125365 Land Settlement Records for Immigrants
MIKAN 5128535 Canadian National Land Settlement Association operational and administrative records
There are also various reference publications and printed materials, located in vols. 5641-5642, 5941-5968 and 6009-6027. These include copies of T. Eaton publications, 5000 Facts About Canada, and Canadian Pacific Railway publications (1928); Radio Talk by CN (1931-1932); Manitoba Free Press Annual Agricultural Financial Review (1929); British Columbia Farm Lands (1928-1930); The Scottish Farmer (Jan 1939 to Dec. 1949), The Northern Argonaut (1938), The Nor'west Farmer (1923-1926; 1932-1936).
There are also several containers of clippings on agricultural topics. There is an index to the clippings, with main topics such as 1. Alberta's Agricultural Policy; 2. Federal Agricultural Policy; 3. Manitoba's Agricultural Policy.
Various reference publications, pamphlets, and photo reports by CN and other sources can be found in vols. 11445-11447, ca. 1934-1960.
There are also several containers of posters. The posters are currently housed in vols. 5879-5890. Please see lower level file level descriptions for more details.
There is a large quantity of photographic material, which consists of many photographic reports and albums of immigrants. Some albums showing European families settled on land in the Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba by the Land Settlement Association of the Canadian National Railways, 1927-1930; 73 identified individuals and family portraits taken on their farm and corresponding nitrate negatives of European immigrants (Polish, Hungarian, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Roumanian, Swiss, Austrian, Slovaks, Dutch and Danish settlers) in Saskatchewan, 1926-1935; harvesting and farming activities in Sakatchewan, 1954-1958 - cities and villages include: Sturgis, Morse, Regina, La Ronge, Kipling, Broderick, Rowatt, Indian Head, Leinan, Abernethy, Esterhazy, North Battleford, Maple Creek, Balcarres, Moose Jaw, Macrorie, Kronau, Gull Lake, Davidson, La Loche, Grenfell, Estevan, Rush Lake, Abbey, Humbolt, Moosomin, Craik, Eastend, Cochin, Fort Qu'Appelle, Cumberland, Uranium City, Melville and Lipton - and one album of Dutch immigrants settled in Southern Ontario, 1958.
There is also cartographic material, dating from ca. 1910-1960, which consists of maps collected by the Natural Resources Development Dept. of the CNR in Winnipeg. The Natural Resources Department was attached for a while to the Colonization Department. The map collection appears to be part of a reference library created by the department.
Only a few of the maps were annotated by the office in which they originated and these office stamps and notations are not significant. There are indications that this collection was organized according to a classification system. So maps appear to be classified according to geographical region (whether it be parts of Canada or the world); by type of industry (such as lumbering); or by type of natural resource (geological).
Volume 16242 - This contains general transportation maps, as well as ones on more specific types of transportation, including aviation, automobiles, mining, furs, vegetation, and forests,
Volume 16243 - This contains maps relating to railways, industries and mounted police stations.
Volume 16244 - This contains maps for Northern Ontario, particularly for the Sandy Lake Patricia District area. There are also copies of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway maps dating from ca. 1910.
Volume 16245 - This contains maps for Manitoba, specifically relating to the Churchill area 1930s-1950s.
Volume 16246 - additional maps for Manitoba, specifically for the northern part of the province and the Churchill area
Volume 16247 - Miscellaneous maps of Northern Ontario and Western Canada
Volume 16248 - Miscellaneous resource maps and maps of Northern Canada including the Yukon and Northwest Territories
Volume 16300 - Miscellaneous resource maps for Northern Ontario
Some more specific highlights include: land settlement and other tourist guides, highway and railway maps of Manitoba, tourist maps of Quebec, railway maps of Quebec and New York, mining maps for Ontario and Manitoba, tourist pamphlets for Canadian Airways Limited, Zoning Maps and related bylaw information for selected cities (Port Arthur, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg), Mineral Maps, several copies of Tourist Booklet for Triangle Tour of BC, Map of Churchill and Vicinity 1932, showing CN property, Tourist Map of Flin Flon, 1946, Protein Maps, Climate Map, Map of Eskimo Populations in NWT 1929, Auto Road Map of Western US 1920s, Geological Map of Ottawa, 1901, Map of Moose River Basin, Maps of Red Lake Gold Area 1927, Road Maps for Calgary, Northern Ontario, Western Canada and US Connections ca. 1930. There are currently no finding aids and the maps are all folded in their original state.(old LAC map numbering RG30M 890678).
