Discover new aspects of the history of Canada in the 19th and 20th centuries through thematic tours.
Divided into five major themes and five time periods, these thematic tours may be accessed three different ways, by: Web tours (documented images, in HTML), movie clips (QuickTime version) and movie clips (Flash version).
Featured Thematic Tour

White Gold Pioneers: Asbestos Mining
In 1876 asbestos is discovered in Thetford township, Quebec. The tools are simple and the workers often inexperienced, but by 1895 mining is starting to be mechanized. This marks the beginning of a stage of unprecedented growth. The number of workers grows with the demand for asbestos. Over time workers learn the value of solidarity and unite to demand better working conditions.
Themes
First Nations
- "My body is here but my spirit is always there": The Innu Language of the Forest
- "My body is here but my spirit is always there": The Innu Language of the Forest [Innu Version]
- Continuing Negotiations: First Nations and the State
- Exploration in the Canadian Arctic
- Exploration in the Canadian Arctic [Inuktitut Version]
- Living Words: Aboriginal Diplomats of the 18th Century
- Nunavik: Building on the Knowledge of Ancestors
- Nunavik: Building on the Knowledge of Ancestors [Inuktitut Version]
- The Art and Technique of Inuit Clothing
- The Art and Technique of Inuit Clothing [Inuktitut Version]
- The Huron-Wendat Craft Industry from the 19th Century to Today
- The Huron-Wendat Craft Industry from the 19th Century to Today [Wendat Version]
- Tradition, Change and Survival: Mi'kmaq Tourist Art
Cartoons
- Funny and Moody: The Best of Aislin's Cartoons
- Funny and Moody: The Best of Chapleau's Cartoons
- Here a scandal, there a scandal: More fodder for cartoonists
- Once a Politician, Always a Butt: Introduction to Editorial Cartooning
- The birth and torment of Miss Canada and Johnny Canuck, or the beginnings of the federation
Places
- A Changing World: Education in New Brunswick
- A Riveted Community: North Vancouver's Wartime Shipbuilding
- A Year to Remember: 1904 New Brunswick
- All in a Day's Work: Lumbering in New Brunswick
- Big Cities, New Horizons
People
- All in a Day's Work: Lumbering in New Brunswick
- Clothes Make the Man
- Evangeline
- Funny and Moody: The Best of Aislin's Cartoons
- Funny and Moody: The Best of Chapleau's Cartoons
Society / Daily Life
- A Bourgeois Duty: Philanthropy, 1896-1919
- A Changing World: Education in New Brunswick
- A Consuming Passion
- A Riveted Community: North Vancouver's Wartime Shipbuilding
- A Year to Remember: 1904 New Brunswick
Politics / Economy
- Confederation: The Creation of Canada
- Continuing Negotiations: First Nations and the State
- Funny and Moody: The Best of Aislin's Cartoons
- Funny and Moody: The Best of Chapleau's Cartoons
- Getting Down to Business: Canada, 1896-1919
Technology, Industry & Commerce
Periods
1840-1867
- A Year to Remember: 1904 New Brunswick
- Confederation: The Creation of Canada
- Disasters and Calamities, 1840-1867
- Form and Fashion
- Happy Birthday, Miss Fanny! A 19th-Century Toy Story
1867-1896
- A Consuming Passion
- All in a Day's Work: Lumbering in New Brunswick
- Big Cities, New Horizons
- Brand New and Wonderful: The Rise of Technology
- Clothes Make the Man
1896-1919
- A Bourgeois Duty: Philanthropy, 1896-1919
- A Changing World: Education in New Brunswick
- A Year to Remember: 1904 New Brunswick
- Digging for Treasure: Mining in Canada
- Exploration in the Canadian Arctic
1919-1945
- A Riveted Community: North Vancouver's Wartime Shipbuilding
- Building a Vancouver Icon: The Lions Gate Bridge
- Growing Up Healthy in the 20th Century
- Silver and Gold: Bennett and the Great Depression
- Standardbearers of Acadian Identity