List of government department changes in Alberta and Sask

Question

Does anyone have a list of how ministries have changed their names in Alberta and Saskatchewan over time?

Answer

The provincial government archives have documented the changes to administration over time.

For Saskatchewan, try the link to "Ministries" here: http://www.saskarchives.com/services-government/seld

For Alberta, try: An administrative history of the government of Alberta, 1905-2005
http://culture.alberta.ca/paa/archives/research/adminhistory.aspx

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We find the list under “Ministers” on the SELD page very helpful as well since it is an alphabetical listing by ministry or department and you are often able to trace both backwards and forwards in time. The list does start with the Presidents of the Executive Council (i.e. the Premiers) and then the rest of the ministries follow in alphabetical order. Another resource that we use here at the legislative library is our library catalogue as many of the records include ‘see’ and ‘see also’ references. You can search the catalogue here at, http://legislative.voyager.uregina.ca:7208/vwebv/searchBasic?sk-en_US .

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I often use Canadiana Authorities to find this information. It can be found at: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/canadiana/canadiana-authorities/Pages/canadiana-authorities.aspx. It's a bit awkward to use, but, I have found it to be helpful.

Also, many provincial archives have very good descriptions and history of departments/ministries in their government fonds. Here's an example of the results when you do a search for Alberta Public Affairs -https://hermis.alberta.ca/paa/Details.aspx?CollectionID=1&st=public+affairs&ReturnUrl=%2fpaa%2fSearch.aspx%3fCollectionID%3d1%26st%3dpublic%2baffairs&dv=True&DeptID=1&ObjectID=GR0048.001SF