The fonds reflects Mary Bishop’s interests in the social and political issues surrounding family planning, access to birth control, and population planning, primarily in Canada, as well as in south Asia and globally. She accumulated a large number of subject files to support her research in these areas on topics including human sexuality; abortion; fertility; welfare of children and families; and the influence of organized religion and Eugenics movements on birth control access. The fonds also reflects Bishop’s dedication to voluntary service with local, national, and international organizations focused on family and population planning. A small number of personal records are also included.

Bishop’s records are arranged into three series: population and family planning research; volunteer involvement; and personal files. The fonds consists primarily of newspaper clippings and research notes on topics of interest to Bishop; government and NGO reports and publications on population policy and family planning issues; pamphlets and flyers; and drafts of articles and speeches authored by Bishop. The fonds also includes recordings and transcripts of a series of interviews conducted by Bishop in the late 1970s with individuals relevant to the history of the birth control movement in Canada, including physicians, activists, religious leaders, couples, and individual women. Some organizational records for the various groups Bishop was part of (e.g., agendas, meeting minutes, annual reports, committee reports, correspondence, financial records) are also present in the fonds.

The fonds consists of records produced by Jim Wong-Chu, records associated with Jim Wong-Chu's involvement in various cultural and artistic communities in Vancouver, British Columbia, San Francisco, California, and other areas in the northwestern United States and Canada.

In particular, the fonds includes records related to: Canadian cultural and literary communities; Asian Canadian writers; social justice and historical issues related to discrimination of Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups; and Canada and Vancouver's Chinese and other Asian cultural communities.

The fonds has been arranged into the following 9 series: Asian American communities; Asian Canadian communities; Asian Canadian Writers Workshop; Correspondence; Go for Broke Festivals; Manuscripts; Personal works; Personal Records; Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society; and Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre.

In addition to the series listed above, there is one sub-fonds which includes records created by Garrick Chu, a close-friend and colleague of Jim Wong-Chu.

The main types of records within the fonds include correspondence, meeting minutes, schedules, manuscripts, posters and event flyers, photographs, event programs, financial statements and budgets, publications and articles, reports, conference proceedings, and speeches.

The fonds consists records relating to Dr. Joan Ford’s medical career and personal life, with records including handwritten notes, letters and correspondence, newspapers, photographs, official degrees and awards, administrative reports, and a coin. Files often contain multiple record types within them. Dr. Ford dedicated her medical career to helping those in need, including traveling to Nepal, Dominica, and Bangladesh all while managing her own medical practice in Burnaby. She has served in various capacities on numerous boards and professional organizations including the Federation of Medical Women of Canada, Save the Children, the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation, and the Trans-Himalayan Aid Society. She has received numerous awards and recognitions in her lifetime, but for her dedication to the global health community, she was appointed as an officer in the Order of Canada. Her personal interests included her family, Canadian history, and nature.