Heads of Canadian Missions Abroad with Dates of Service

Global Affairs Canada's Historical Section created the 'Heads of Posts' database to identify individuals who have served as heads of Canadian diplomatic posts abroad and their dates of service. The dataset serves as a reference guide for departmental employees, academics, and the public interested in Canada's international relations. It is available on the Open Government site and was last updated on 2026-06-01.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical trends in Canadian diplomatic appointments based on the list of heads of posts.
• Mapping the timeline of Canadian international representation based on dates of service.
• Researching the careers of Canadian diplomats based on their postings and service periods.

Strengths

• Created by Global Affairs Canada's Historical Section, indicating an official institutional source.
• Addresses a common historical information request, suggesting practical utility.
• Available in CSV format, which is machine-readable and suitable for analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.
• Data may reflect temporal or institutional bias inherent to the source department's historical records.

Provenance

Source

Global Affairs Canada | Affaires mondiales Canada

Collection Method

Created by the Department's Historical Section, originally as a list and later transformed into a database.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-01 14:31:05.406071; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Canadian diplomatic posts abroad.