The federal government inaugurates Gatineau2, the largest automated archive in the world!

Sonia Roy

Representing an investment of $330 million, the new Library and Archives Canada (LAC) preservation building was inaugurated on November 24, 2022, during a special celebration attended by members of the region's political community. Adjacent to the current Gatineau Preservation Centre on Boulevard du Carrefour, the Gatineau2 building welcomed the Honourable Steven Mackinnon, Member of Parliament for Gatineau and Chief Federal Whip, the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and the Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, who joined the LAC team for the inauguration. Representatives from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Nation also participated to the event. 

Steven Mackinnon commented on the arrival of North America's first "carbon net zero" archival preservation building (and the first federal project built to the requirements of Canada's Green Government Strategy): "Gatineau will be home to Canada's heritage treasures in a state-of-the-art, carbon neutral building.” He added, “The expertise of the people of our region and of Library and Archives Canada is known around the world and serves as a model in this regard. I am proud to see the realization of this project in Gatineau.” The MP also noted that the arrival of this project in Gatineau "will generate substantial economic benefits for our region and is an important vector of specialized jobs.” Leslie Weir, a well-known librarian and archivist who attended the November 24 event, said, "Twenty-five years ago this year, LAC opened its Preservation Centre. Today, we are proud to continue our tradition of excellence with the addition of this state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly building that meets the highest international standards for preservation.”

As for the building, it was designed with its environmental footprint in mind. Cube-shaped, Gatineau2 is built to reduce its presence on the ground and is composed of vaults with a storage capacity equivalent to that of more than eight Olympic-sized swimming pools. An internal crane and lift, used to move archival containers, complete the design of Gatineau2, which will soon house over 590,000 boxes of documents, analogue archives, microfilm and film. The building's design is the result of a public-private partnership between the federal government and the firm Propriétés Plenary Gatineau, which explains that the new building is built to withstand the ravages of time. "The facility [is designed] to last over 100 years and [to meet] the objective of preserving the archival collection for 500 years. It is the largest preservation facility in the world with a high-tech automated system for archival storage and retrieval.”

Photo captions:

(1) Steven Mackinnon and Leslie Weir (middle) at the opening of Gatineau2

(2) Aerial view of the Gatineau Preservation Centre and the Gatineau2 building

Photo credit: (1) from Steven Mackinnon's Facebook page (2) courtesy of Plenary Properties Gatineau