For Immediate Release	Thursday, October 25, 2007

The United Church Archives Finds a New Home

Toronto:	In a statement released today, The United Church of Canada is 
pleased to announce a new location for its archives that are housed in 
Toronto.

In early 2008, The United Church Archives (Toronto) will be moving from 
the Victoria University campus at the University of Toronto to The 
United Church of Canada’s General Council Office at 3250 Bloor St. West 
in west-end Toronto.

Currently The United Church of Canada supports a regional network of 
archives situated in 10 different locations throughout Canada. In 
Ontario, the United Church Archives (Toronto) manages the records of the 
General Council, the antecedent denominations, and the records of Bay of 
Quinte, London, Hamilton, Manitou, and Toronto Conferences and their 
respective presbyteries and pastoral charges.

In announcing the decision regarding the new location for the United 
Church Archives (Toronto), Nora Sanders, General Secretary of the 
General Council, said, “As General Secretary, I want to assure all those 
who value the rich heritage of the United Church’s archives of my 
personal commitment, along with that of the General Council, to the 
careful stewardship of this unique archival collection.”

Public access at this new location will be facilitated by its proximity 
to major transportation routes, the Islington subway station, and 
on-site parking. The new location will also allow for more immediate 
access and integration of the archives collection into the life and work 
of the church’s national office and the church’s governing body, the 
General Council.

The archives will be housed in space vacated by The United Church of 
Canada’s television and audiovisual production facility, Berkeley 
Studio. The studio space becomes available as a result of the decision 
in June 2007 to cease in-house, on-site audiovisual production effective 
December 31, 2007. The Berkeley Studio audiovisual collection will also 
be preserved as part of the General Council’s archives.

Bernard Granka is the project manager for the archives transition. He 
and Sharon Larade, The United Church of Canada’s General Council 
Archivist, will oversee the monumental task of moving close to 20,000 
boxes of records to the new site of the United Church Archives 
(Toronto). He explains that the church will be contracting specialized 
movers for the relocation of the archives collection.

Granka says that the studio space has great potential for storing 
archival records. The studio is self-contained, with a separate, 
existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit, 
allowing precise control of the environmental conditions of the storage 
vault. Immediately adjacent to the archives’ new vault are offices that 
will become the new reading room and staff workstations. Compact 
shelving will be installed to maximize archival storage capacity in the 
available floor space in a single vault.

Granka explains that the new location for the United Church Archives 
(Toronto) will meet the institutional standards set by the Canadian 
Council of Archives and all the records of the General Council and the 
Ontario Conferences will be administered by professional staff. He says 
that while there is much work to be done, the General Council Office and 
the five Ontario Conferences are confident that the new location will 
serve the purposes of both the General Council Office and the five 
Ontario Conferences.

Granka adds that while planning and preparations are underway to move 
the collection from its current location at Victoria University, the 
collection will be temporarily unavailable for research after December 
21, 2007. The United Church anticipates reopening its reading room to 
the public by Monday, May 5, 2008 at the 3250 Bloor St. West location.

Granka emphasizes that throughout the United Church Archives (Toronto) 
transition, the church remains committed to providing continued access 
to all archival records related to residential schools, and will offer 
full co-operation with all aspects of the Indian Residential Schools 
Settlement Agreement. This includes uninterrupted, open access to its 
archival records for the purposes of the Truth and Reconciliation 
Commission.

The Conference archives outside of Ontario are not affected by this 
transition at the United Church Archives (Toronto). For up-to-date 
information about their programs, see www.united-church.ca/archives.

Additional information with regard to the move of the United Church 
Archives (Toronto) will be posted to the archives website at 
www.unitedchurcharchives.ca.

Questions and concerns about the transition should be directed to the 
United Church’s General Council Archivist, Sharon Larade, at 
[log in to unmask] or to the project manager, Bernard Granka, at 
[log in to unmask]

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Mary-Frances Denis
Communications Officer
The United Church of Canada
416-231-7680 ext. 2016 (office)

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