As the primary repository for Canada's published heritage, Library and Archives Canada has an ongoing involvement with all aspects of the book trade: printing, publishing, bookselling, etc.

Women have always been active in the book trade in Canada. Historically, details of the exact nature of their work and contributions often went undocumented as was the case with Elizabeth Bushell during the latter half of the eighteenth century. In the 20th century, women such as Louise Dennys and Anna Porter have risen to positions of prominence and influence in major Canadian publishing houses. Other women have chosen to establish their own printing and publishing enterprises to provide a forum for voices and ideas less accepted by the mainstream or to experiment with ways of working considered to be feminist, co-operative and anti-hierarchical. Several of the subjects of these biographies are publishing houses in which no single woman would consider herself to be the dominant force.