Hudson's Bay Company is proud to be a strong supporter of history and to make its collections accessible to researchers. If you are a casual researcher please bear in mind that the most effective way of obtaining information about us remains through your local library, as well as the internet. As a starting point we encourage you to consult our online bibliography, which includes useful websites, as well as the Frequently Asked Questions.

Hudson's Bay Company Heritage Services, the Hudson's Bay Company Archives at the Archives of Manitoba, the Manitoba Museum and all the other institutions holding Hbc related material should be consulted when your research is extensive or specialized and time is not a factor.

As a result of the 1994 Gift to the Nation, ownership of the Hudson's Bay Company collection is divided between several institutions that are independent from one another. The Manitoba Museum is now responsible for a very precious ethnological collection of aboriginal artefacts while the Hudson's Bay Company Archives is the recognized repository for the Company's famed fur trade records. Hudson's Bay Company Heritage Services has custody of those records pertaining to the retailing activities that took place in the 20th century, including the records of most of the acquired companies. View a more exhaustive list of institutions owning Hudson's Bay Company material.

Please note that Hudson's Bay Company owns and is directly responsible only for the collections in custody of its Heritage Services department.

Hudson's Bay Company Heritage Services maintains four collections: fine art, archival material (includes audio-visual material), artefacts and images.

• The Art collection is divided into a number of broad categories: e.g. portraits, calendar art, and Inuit art.
• The Archival Collection provides an extensive record of the company's activities over the past 50+ years. It amounts to hundreds of metres of records and contains thousands of photographs, hundreds of video clips and sound bites.
• The Artefact collection consists of all three-dimensional objects of a historical nature owned by the Company. It is mainly composed of private (or house) brand items, retail goods and other artefacts of the business - essentially the "tools" of the trade: scales, cash registers, adding machines, etc.
• The Image Collection while an integral part of the archival collection, is managed separately. It contains all the still photographs related to Hbc in direct custody of Hudson's Bay Company Heritage Services.

In addition to the various collections we are responsible for, Hbc Heritage Services also collects oral histories from various sources: retirees having interesting or eventful careers with Hbc or any of the our acquired companies; unusual or interesting customer experiences; stories from the North.