Ontario. Office of the Commissioner of Highways

Identity area

Type of entity

Lower-level Ontario government office (type C)

Authorized form of name

Ontario. Office of the Commissioner of Highways

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

    • Office of the Commissioner of Highways

    Other form(s) of name

    • Ontario. Office of the Provincial Instructor in Road-Making

    • Ontario. Highways Branch

    Identifiers for corporate bodies

    Description area

    Dates of existence

    1896-1915

    History

    The Office of the Commissioner of Highways has its origin in the position of the Provincial Instructor in Road- Making, first appointed in 1896 and attached to the Ontario Department of Agriculture. The name of the office was changed to the Commissioner of Highways and transferred to the Ontario Department of Public Works in 1900. By 1910 the Office was generally referred to as the Highways Branch.

    Mr. A.W. Campbell held the position of Provincial Instructor in Road-Making and later Commissioner of Highways from 1896 until 1910. Mr. W.A. McLean, Provincial Engineer of Highways, succeeded Mr. Campbell as the director of the Highways Branch.

    On the recommendations of the Public Roads and Highways Commission of Ontario (also known as the Good Roads Commission), the Department of Public Highways was established by legislation in 1915, absorbing the functions of the Highways Branch.

    Places

    Legal status

    Functions, occupations and activities

    The Office of the Commissioner of Highways was responsible for advising local municipalities in Ontario on road improvements.

    Address

    Order in Council, April 15, 1896

    Internal structures/genealogy

    General context

    Relationships area

    Related entity

    Ontario. Dept. of Agriculture (1888-1966)

    Identifier of related entity

    AA59

    Category of relationship

    hierarchical

    Type of relationship

    Ontario. Dept. of Agriculture controls Ontario. Office of the Commissioner of Highways

    Dates of relationship

    1896-1900

    Description of relationship

    Related entity

    Ontario. Dept. of Public Works (1869-1972)

    Identifier of related entity

    AA40

    Category of relationship

    hierarchical

    Type of relationship

    Ontario. Dept. of Public Works controls Ontario. Office of the Commissioner of Highways

    Dates of relationship

    1900-1915

    Description of relationship

    Related entity

    Ontario. Dept. of Public Highways (1915-1931)

    Identifier of related entity

    BA86

    Category of relationship

    temporal

    Type of relationship

    Ontario. Dept. of Public Highways is the successor of Ontario. Office of the Commissioner of Highways

    Dates of relationship

    Description of relationship

    Access points area

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Epithet

    Control area

    Authority record identifier

    CA291

    Institution identifier

    Rules and/or conventions used

    RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

    Status

    Approved

    Level of detail

    Dates of creation, revision and deletion

    2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

    Language(s)

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Bishop, Olga. Publications of the Government of Ontario 1867-1900 (1976)

        MacTaggart, Hazel. Publications of the Government of Ontario 1901-1955 (1964)

        Maintenance notes

        Agency not found in Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12-24

        Archivist(s):
        R. Anger