Library and Archives Canada (LAC) (in ) is a federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible. LAC reports to Parliament through Mélanie Joly, the Minister of Canadian Heritage since November 4, 2015. 

The Dominion Archives was founded in 1872 as a division within the Department of Agriculture and was transformed into the autonomous Public Archives of Canada in 1912 and renamed the National Archives of Canada in 1987. The National Library of Canada was founded in 1953. Freda Farrell Waldon contributed to the writing of the brief which led to the founding of the National Library of Canada. In 2004, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) combined the functions of the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada. It was established by the "Library and Archives of Canada Act" (Bill C-8), proclaimed on April 22, 2004. A subsequent Order in Council dated May 21, 2004 united the collections, services and personnel of the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada. Since inception LAC has reported to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. 

LAC's stated mandate is: 

LAC is expected to maintain "effective recordkeeping practices that ensure transparency and accountability". 

LAC's holdings include the archival records of the Government of Canada, representative private archives, 20 million books acquired largely through legal deposit, 24 million photographs, and more than a petabyte of digital content. Some of this content, primarily the book collection, university theses and census material, is available online. Many items have not been digitized and are only available in physical form. As of May 2013 only about 1% of the collection had been digitized, representing "about 25 million of the more popular and most fragile items".
Who contributed to its foundation?
Freda Farrell Waldon contributed to the writing of the brief which led to the founding