Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry have played an important role in Canada. We have traditionally used them to investigate extraordinary problems or solicit informed opinion on controversial issues and to set government policy. 

The following is a more complete break down of the Federal Royal Commission Reports and Commissions of Inquiryavailable from the Government Documents collection:

• Briefs and Transcripts of Royal Commissions: the basic collection covers 300 reports. This includes all extant reports listed in Henderson, Federal Royal Commissions in Canada 1867-1986: A Checklist. The National Archives and Micromedia ProQuest were able to locate an additional 32 reports beyond those noted in Henderson.
• Reports by Commission: titles are added each year through the Microlog Microfiche Collections. The reports are indexed in Canadian Research Index.