Royal commissions commenced in British Columbia in 1872, under the authority of the Public Inquiries Act. Chaired by one or more highly-respected persons (usually retired judges), royal commissions are legally autonomous from government.
There are generally two types of royal commissions: policy commissions struck to investigate matters of great societal importance; or investigative commissions set up to investigate individual or institutional misconduct. The results are usually published in large reports detailing the commissions’ findings and recommendations for legislative and policy changes.
In 1979 the former Public Inquiries Act and Ministerial Inquiries Act were consolidated into the Inquiry Act. On June 21, 2007, the British Columbia Legislature passed a new Public Inquiry Act (S.B.C. 2007, c. 9) with revised parameters for conducting royal commissions in British Columbia.
About this Portal
The Legislative Library has the most comprehensive collection of BC royal and special commissions reports in the Province with documents dating back to 1872.
In Spring 2011, the Legislative Library digitized over two hundred reports published between 1872 and 1980. There are some gaps in the collection: several reports issued between 1872 and 1942 are reported as missing and some commissions were set-up and terminated before completing their work. The terminated commissions are not listed in this portal.
All royal and special commissions reports published after 1980 are available online and have been collected in digital format.
Search the Commissions
This portal allows full-text searching of all royal and special commissions from 1872 to present. You can search specific words or phrases, and narrow your search by year.
Checklists
Commissions are also listed in the following checklists published by the Legislative Library. Use the checklists to find summaries and related materials published by the commissions