| 1868 |
Creation of the first science laboratory dedicated to the fight against crime, the "Institut de médecine légale de Paris"(Paris Institute for Forensic Science). |
| 1878 |
Dr. William Hodgeson Ellis testifies at a rape murder case explaining the significance of the number, size and position of bloodstains left on the clothes of an accused (ie. blood stain pattern analysis). |
| 1882 |
Alphonse Bertillon, a French criminologist, who is known as the father of criminal identification, started using an anthropometric system, combined with photographic shots, to identify criminals. His system entailed taking a photograph of an individual looking directly at the camera followed by a second photograph of their profile. The subject's height would then be measured as well as the lenght of one index finger, one arm and one foot. |
| 1890 |
Alphonse Bertillon discovers that each individual fingerprint has unique characteristics. Fingerprinting quickly gains recognition as way of identifying an individual. |
| 1908 |
Order in Council of Canada sanctions use of fingerprints as a means of identification under the Identification of Criminals Act (1898). |
| 1910 |
Creation of the world's second forensic science laboratory in Lyon, France, headed by Edmond Locard. |
| 1911 |
First set of fingerprints identified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Fingerprint Bureau headed by Edward Foster (1863-1956), the "Father of Canadian Fingerprinting". |
| 1913-14 |
Sir Lomer Gouin, Attorney General and Premier of Quebec, decides to create the first forensic lab in North America. |
| 1920 |
Dr. Wilfrid Derome's work "Précis de médecine légale" is published. |
| 1922 |
First time the results of a blood alcohol test are admitted into evidence at a trial. |
| 1922-24 |
Delorme affair : Reverend Delorme is accused of murdering his brother in Montreal, Quebec. |
| 1924 |
Hochelaga Bank affair : robbers hold up bank guards in Montreal, Quebec. |
| 1928 |
"Le Lieu du Crime" published |
| 1929 |
"Expertise en Armes à Feu" published |
| 1931 |
Death of Dr. Wilfrid Derome. |
| 1932 |
Second forensic science laboratory in Canada established by the Attorney General of Ontario. The laboratory to conduct autopsies, blood tests and the examination of seminal stains, hairs, fibres and plant material. |
| 1932 |
Blood alcohol analysis introduced to Ontario courts by L.J. Rogers. Rogers found alcohol in the stomach of a man who had died after consuming moonshine. |
| 1937 |
RCMP scientific laboratory established in Regina, Saskatchewan. Develpment of RCMP Forensic Laboratory Services across Canada. |
| 1947 |
First time the results of a spectrographic paint analysis are admitted into evidence at a trial. |
| 1949 |
Guay affair : a bomb causes a plane to explode in Sault-Aux-Cochons, Quebec. |
| 1950 |
First time the results of a spectrographic analysis of the debris from an explosion are admitted into evidence at a trial. |
| 1956 |
July/Aug. Breathalyser® first used by Ontario Provincial Police in Witby, Ontario. |
| 1966 |
The Attorney General for Ontario's Forensic Science Laboratory in Ontario changes its name to the Centre for Forensic Sciences. |
| 1978 |
Creation of two separate administrative units within the Laboratoire de recherches médico légales: the Laboratoire de police scientifique with Mr. Bernard Péclet as Director, and the Laboratoire de médicine légale, with Dr. Jean-Paul Valcourt as Director. |
| 1984 |
DNA Profiling, first DNA "fingerprinting" technique, discovered by Dr. Alec Jeffries of the Lister Institute of Leicester University, England. |
| 1996 |
In October 1996, the Laboratoire de police scientifique becomes the first independent service unit of the Quebec Department of Public Security. |
| 1996 |
Deposit of the collection of the Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale in the Musée de la civilisation, Québec. |
