Sub-series consists of records generated and maintained by the Canadian Government Railways. These records relate to three types of records created by the Intercolonial Railway.
First, linked to this sub-series in lower level descriptions are 13 ledgers, entitled ICR Staff Books. These ledgers document employees who went into service for the railway, roughly during the period of 1855-1910. Each page of the ledger books contains the names of three employees, along with relevant information about the employee, such as:
¿Date and place of birth
¿Occupation
¿Rate of pay per month
¿Department
¿Location
¿Change in pay and occupation over time
¿Religion
¿Beginning and end dates of service with the railway
Written next some of the employee names are PF numbers, relating to the Provident Fund. The Intercolonial and Prince Edward Island Railways Employees Provident Fund was created in 1907.
Following the creation of the fund, the Intercolonial Railway created a detailed recordkeeping system (on file cards) to document employees who would benefit from the fund. These cards, similar to what was in the ledger books, include histories of employees and provident fund membership registers. In order to properly administer this fund, careful record keeping was essential: changes in pay rates, any breaks in service and detailed personal information were documented in the employee's provident fund file.
Half the file card index was scanned to microfiche when it first arrived at Library and Archives Canada, and was later digitized by an outside organization known as Canadiana.org. The entire file card index was scanned again and added to an online database. Note that this database is no longer operational, as the entirety of the information in this database can now be found in the LAC online database. There are 21715 service records. Please see 5669635 : Employees' provident fund service record cards for further details.
Each card contains similar information to that found in the staff books mentioned above. However, the date range is of a wider scope, generally 1855-1959.
Some cards also contain religious denomination, name of person who recommended the employee, date and cause of death, name of person who received the final payment upon death of the employee. The reverse side of the card contains a record of discipline, rewards, absences, merit and demerit points and the reasons for each. While most records consist of only one two-sided employee card, about one in twenty consists of multiple cards averaging three cards. The cards contain a P.F. number (Provident fund) that refers to a file; however, please note that those files were destroyed before arriving at Library and Archives Canada.
It is worth noting that a portion of the file card index records employees working in Western Canada, primarily at Transcona near Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway constructed the Transcona repair shops between ca. 1909-1913; ownership of the shops was transferred shortly afterwards to the government run National Transcontinental Railway and then Canadian Government Railways. In 1919, the Transcona shops became part of Canadian National Railways.
Additionally, there are two ledger books from the Intercolonial Railway Employees' Relief and Insurance Association. These cover the period 1890-1935, and are arranged numerically by certificate (provident fund) numbers.
