Sub-series consists of central registry files created and/or maintained by the Deputy Minister's Office. These records are central registry files covering all aspects of the work of the Deputy Minister in running the department and advising the Minister of Labour.
The files in volumes 4107, 4492-4558, 4330-4467 cover, among other things, the Deputy Minister's liaison work with Labour Canada's regional offices various legislative initiatives, including amendments to existing Acts, and material pertinent to all the department's major programmes for these years, including creation of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. Although one group of files dates back to 1922, most files date from the 1970's and 1980's. The files also include analyses done for the deputy minister between 1968 and 1971 of a number of key parts of Labour Canada's mandate including industrial relations and fair employment practices. Volumes 835-836 contain central registry files relating to Communist activities in Canada and Confederation with Newfoundland.
Volumes 837-931, 3389-3394 contain central registry files relating to all federal Boards, Conferences, Committees and Councils which dealt with matters affecting the Canadian labour scene. Only the records affecting labour were referred to the Department. A few examples are The Wartime Labour Relations Board, Regional Advisory Boards, National Film Board, Canadian Vocational Training Council, and Dominion-Provincial Conferences on Handicapped Persons.
In the Labour Canada records system the term "General Services" is used for file series dealing with important departmental activities which involved the department (often at a high level) in joint activities or correspondence with organizations outside the federal government. There was never, however, a "general services" branch within the Department. The earliest files originated in the Deputy Minister's office and that office was consistently involved in the matters covered by these records.
The general services files found in volumes 1895-1896, 3460-3510, 3553, 3753-3796 include departmental correspondence with numerous associations, companies, and unions in Canada such as the Ford Motor Company, the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada, etc. The files also contain memoranda, newspaper clippings, pamphlets and brochures. A number of these files reach back to the 1930's and 1940's. The files also contain general correspondence and memoranda covering Department of Labour cooperation with the National Film Board, 1944-1969, (Two Deputy Ministers of Labour were members of the National Film Board during this period). NFB promotional material, reports and press releases are included. Also included are submissions and correspondence sent to the Minister of Labour from various groups and interests in Canadian publishing opposing or supporting the recommendations of the O'Leary Commission Report on Publishing, 1961 with regard to Time Magazine and Reader's Digest.
Other general services files contain correspondence, reports and news releases on the work of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labour, 1960-1964; correspondence on the setting up and reorganization of the Accounts Office of the Labour Department, 1931-1942; and material pertaining to the Government of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, along with briefs and correspondence from the International Brotherhood of Pulp and Sulphite Paper Mill Workers and the National Unemployment Insurance Commission Association (a staff association of UIC employees). Also included are records regarding Department of Labour participation in the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation from 1938 on. (This Association brings together federal and provincial authorities from across Canada involved in the drafting and implementation of labour legislation). The files contain correspondence, reports on CAAL proceedings etc. Material dealing with the department's relationship with other federal departments and with outside bodies such as the Canadian Labour Congress and private companies and organizations in Canada is included, as is a series of files on the writing of a departmental history which date from 1914.
The General Services records found in volumes 3209 to 3236 deal with a variety of subjects such as questions and answers in the House of Commons, relations with other federal departments (i.e. Justice, Secretary of State, Post Office, National Film Board, RCMP, Agriculture, Health and Welfare, etc.) and reports by committees dealing with National Employment, Seasonal Unemployment, Industrial Relations, Winter Employment, Professional & Technical Change, etc.
