Ordering copies
Interested in getting copies of materials held at the National Library or the National Archives? You can get them free of charge by downloading them using BAnQ numérique*, the institution’s digital platform, or by taking a photo of the item in person at any BAnQ facility. Or, you can order a copy. Here’s how.
Turnaround times
*Unless stated otherwise, all links in this text are to French pages or sites.
- Basic rate service: within 15 business days for orders of 35 files or less.
- Express service (twice the cost of basic rate service): within 5 business days for orders of 15 files or less, shipped by regular mail.
General information
- The turnaround time begins on the day we receive payment for your order.
- Turnaround times can vary. You will be notified of any changes.
- BAnQ reserves the right to refuse to copy any items it considers too fragile.
- The files will be available for download for 14 consecutive days. Once this period has passed, a new request will need to be submitted to us.
How to order
1. Send us your request using one of the following forms:
- High-resolution images or texts
- Sound recordings
- Audiovisual recordings
- Documents pertaining to divorce or separation
- Documents to obtain a pardon (record suspension) or entry waiver
- Notarized documents
- Vital records (baptism, marriage and burial records)
- Grievance arbitration awards
- Collective agreements
- Decrees
- Other archival materials in paper or PDF format)
2. Confirm your order after receiving an email with the total amount due, based on applicable rates.
3. Pay by:
- Credit card (Visa or Mastercard, online payment available);
- Cheque;
- Money order;
- Cash;
- Debit card (not accepted at the following BAnQ facilities: Gaspé, Gatineau, Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, Saguenay, Sept-Îles, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières).
4. Receive your copies:
- by downloading the files;
- by mail; Canada Posts rates apply;
- by going to the BAnQ archives centre handling your request.
Contact us for more information on how to order copies.
Prices
The prices shown include any applicable taxes and are the basic rate service rate. For express service, the prices are doubled.
Where applicable, postage fees will be added.
Please note that prices are subject to change without notice.
Digital copy
Image or text:
$60 per page or per image; $62 for a double-sided copy
Oversized item, i.e. 128 cm x 88 cm (51” x 34”) or bigger:
$60 per digitized section; minimum of two sections
Several pages of or an entire monograph or serial, TIFF files without OCR (Optical Character Recognition):
$60 per item, plus $2.00 per page
Sound or audiovisual recording:
$60 per item, plus $2.00 per minute of recording, or
$60 per item, plus the external vendor's fee
Restoring and cleaning before digitizing (if needed):
$73 per hour
Mass reproduction in several digital formats:
Several thousand pages or images from the same publication or archival fonds.
Submit your request and receive a quote by writing to reproduction [at] banq.qc.ca (reproduction[at]banq[dot]qc[dot]ca).
Other copies in paper or PDF format
Divorce judgments, separation agreements, grievance arbitration awards, collective agreements, decrees, and notarized documents less than 80 years old:
$55 for the complete document, including certification, if requested
Researching and copying documents required for a pardon (or record suspension) or US entry waiver:
$55 per case, including certifying or drafting a letter confirming the destruction of the case file, if applicable
Other archival material, excluding National Library materials:
$3.50, plus $0.50 per page
Vital record, including certification:
- Québec residents: $55
- Non-residents of Québec: $350 for the fist copy, and $100 per additional copy
Frequently Asked Questions (Copies of vital records)
Certification (except for vital records):
$35 per certified document
Copyright
Users are responsible for ensuring that their use of copied materials or any part thereof does not infringe on copyright or any other rights under Canadian or other laws, regardless of the country where they are used. BAnQ assumes no responsibility with regard to this matter. For more information on this topic, see the “Utilisation nécessitant une autorisation écrite (licence)” section on the Conditions générales d’utilisation form (Use requiring written authorization in the form of a copyright [license] on the Terms and conditions of use form).
If you want to ask about or obtain rights to use documents that you don't need to copy, fill out the Droits d’utilisation (sans reproduction) form (Rights of use without copying rights form).