The following presents a pan-Canadian perspective on some of the ways in which governments have attempted to distribute and provide access to their own publications, both historically and with a view toward the digital era. It focuses on programs and agreements leading to the systematic deposit of the published print output of governments in one or more locations.

This chapter does not strive to provide a fully comprehensive or complete overview of deposit and distribution programs in Canada. Rather, it attempts to capture the basics of the print deposit processes that were or still are in place in each Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdiction, and the way in which these processes may have changed over time.