The Archives was founded in 1964 for the purpose of acquiring, preserving and making available to the public the records of the Canadian National Exhibition, the Canadian International Air Show and the Warriors’ Day Parade Council. In 1983, this role was extended to cover the records of the newly created Board of Governors of Exhibition Place (a local board of the City of Toronto).
Apart from official records (textual, photographic, film, audio recordings, printed material) produced by the above mentioned bodies, the Archives also acquires and preserves private papers and artifacts (three-dimensional objects) that serve to illustrate the history of Exhibition Place and events that have taken place on the grounds. Material held by the Archives date from the founding of the CNE in 1879 to the present.
