Canadian Jewish Congress organizational records
Extent and Medium
Env. 361.57 metres of textual records. - Env. 14100 photographs. - 1531 sound elements. - 43 films. - 1017 videos.
Biographical History
Canadian Jewish Congress was founded in Montreal in March 1919. "The Parliament of Canadian Jewry," CJC was constituted as the democratically elected, national organizational voice of the Jewish community of Canada, serving as the community's vehicle for defence and representation. Committed to preserving and strengthening Jewish life, CJC acted on matters affecting the status, rights and welfare of the Canadian Jewish community, other Diaspora communities and the Jewish people in Israel. CJC combatted antisemitism and racism, promoted human rights, fostered interfaith, cross-cultural relations and worked towards tolerance, understanding and goodwill among all segments of society in a multicultural Canada. The organization spoke on a broad range of public policy, humanitarian and social-justice issues on the national agenda that affected the Jewish community and Canadian society at large. Through its charitable operations, CJC provided domestic and international relief aid on a non-sectarian basis, following natural disasters and to isolated Jewish communities in need. The Archives department also fell under the mandate of CJC Charities Committee. In 1999 the CJC national office relocated to Ottawa, with three regional CJC offices (Quebec, Ontario and Pacific), as well as affiliated offices across the country. CJC ceased operations in July 2011, when it was absorbed into the newly-created Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), along with the Canada-Israel Committee, the Quebec-Israel Committee, National Jewish Campus Life and the University Outreach Committee. CJC and its charitable wing were formally disbanded in late 2015. Since that time the CJCCC National Archives, renamed the Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives as of January 2016, functions under the aegis of Jewish Federations Canada UIA.
Acquisition
Both the national headquarters and the Quebec Jewish Congress (formerly Quebec Region, Eastern Region) offices of the Canadian Jewish Congress were located in Montreal until 1999, when most of the national office relocated to Ottawa. The National Archives is the repository of records created and received in these offices. The collection also includes materials from the National Office in Ottawa, as well as the national records of Manuel Prutschi, Bernie Farber, and other national departments based in Toronto and Vancouver. The regional offices of Canadian Jewish Congress outside Quebec are little represented in the collection, aside from correspondence from across the country and certain publications which were addressed to the national office.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of several classes of material, as described in the series descriptions below. While the CJC materials begin in 1919, Series Z, the documentation collection, contains material that precedes this date, a few items going back even as far as the earliest settlement of Jews in Canada in the late 18th century.
Note(s)
General note: The number of paper records in this collection is subject to change, due to additions to Documentation Series Z as well as the ongoing weeding of duplications. Most of the material was created after 1919, with the exception of Series Z, which includes photocopies and a small number of originals dating back as far as 1765.