Canadian Archival Institutions and Trauma-Informed Practice

Authors

  • Wendy Duff
  • Cheryl Regehr
  • Christa Sato
  • Jessica Ho
  • Connor White
  • Ashley Lanni

Abstract

Archivists and scholars have increasingly highlighted the potential emotional impact of working with archival records, donors, and users. To address these concerns, Wright and Laurent proposed in a 2021 Archivaria article that archives adopt a set of trauma-informed practices to mitigate the risk of trauma for staff, donors, and users and to provide help when needed. This article investigates the degree to which Canadian archives recognize the potential emotional impact of archival work, the extent to which they have adopted trauma-informed practices, and the barriers they face in doing so. It reports on findings from an analysis of 167 responses to a bilingual (French and English) survey questionnaire and nine interviews with managers of Canadian archives. It examines the adoption of trauma-informed practices across archival functions and services as well as the strategies and protocols used to support staff, donors, and users. Furthermore, it highlights strategies to help archives better support their communities as they navigate these challenges.

Author Biographies

Wendy Duff

Wendy Duff is a professor at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. She is the principal investigator for a SSHRC Insight Grant–funded project entitled Emotional Responses in Archival Work. Recently, she conducted impact studies of the Ontario Jewish Archives, the Living Archives on Eugenics in Western Canada, and the lack of records on Scottish care-leavers. Her previous research and publications focused on the information-seeking behaviour of archival users, archival access, social justice, and the evaluation of archives. In 2016, she won the Fellows’ Ernst Posner Award for her co-authored paper “New Uses for Old Records: A Rhizomatic Approach to Archival Access.”

Cheryl Regehr

Cheryl Regehr is the past Vice-President and Provost of the University of Toronto and a professor of social work with cross appointments to the Faculty of Law and the Institute of Medical Science. Previously, she served as director of the crisis response team at Pearson International Airport and was a member of the Mental Health Advisory Group for the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada; the Canadian Institutes of Health Research COVID-19 and Mental Health Initiative; and the Center for Research Libraries. Her current research involves traumatic exposures in the workplace and the impact of stress and trauma on professional decision-making.

Christa Sato

Christa Sato is a lecturer at University of Northern British Columbia’s Northwest Campus (Terrace) and a PhD candidate in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Her primary area of interest involves working with individuals and families, particularly from racialized communities, who have been impacted by trauma in the areas of child welfare, intimate partner violence, and mental health. Her doctoral research focuses on exploring how diasporic Filipino/a/x in Canada make meaning of suffering, resisting, and healing from intergenerational trauma.

Jessica Ho

Jessica Ho is a graduate of the Master of Information program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, concentrating in library and information science/archives and records management. She joined the Emotional Responses in Archival Work project as a research assistant in 2021. Her background work in athletics and not-for-profit work informs her research interests, so she is eager to bring her commitment to just, equitable access and meaningful participation to the realm of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. She is currently a Library Systems Technician with the Toronto District School Board.

Connor White

Connor White is a graduate of the Master of Information program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, concentrating in archives and records management. He joined the Emotional Responses in Archival Work project as a research assistant in 2022.

Ashley Lanni

Ashley Lanni is a student in the Combined Degree Program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, concentrating in archives and records management and museum studies.

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Published

2026-06-18

How to Cite

Duff, Wendy, Cheryl Regehr, Christa Sato, Jessica Ho, Connor White, and Ashley Lanni. 2026. “Canadian Archival Institutions and Trauma-Informed Practice ”. Archivaria 101 (June):42-91. https://www.archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/14089.

Issue

Archivaria 101 (Spring 2026)

Section

Articles

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