Aside from his poetry, Scott made his mark in Canadian history as the head of the Department of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, a department he had served since joining the federal civil service in 1879.Even before Confederation, the Canadian government adopted a policy of assimilation.

In 1920, under Scott's direction, it became mandatory for all native children between the ages of seven and fifteen to attend one of Canada's Residential Schools.

The children who attended these schools lived in terrible conditions; in some cases the mortality rate exceeded fifty percent due to the spread of infectious disease. Canadian Government Apologizes For Abuse of Indigenous People - washingtonpost.com The children were taken away from their homes, their families, and their culture. In some cases they were physically, mentally, and sexually abused From apology to action: A response to the Residential Schools Apology, actions tolerated in the drive to achieve the objective quoted above.

As part of their Worst Canadian poll, a panel of experts commissioned by Canada's National History Society named Scott one of the Worst Canadians in the August 2007 issue of The Beaver.

Arc Poetry Magazine renamed the annual "Archibald Lampman Award" (given to a poet in the National Capital Region) to the Lampman-Scott Award in recognition of Scott's enduring legacy in Canadian poetry, with the first award under the new name given out in 2007.

The 2008 winner of the award, Shane Rhodes, turned over half of the $1,500 prize money to the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, a First Nations health centre. "Taking that money wouldn't have been right, with what I'm writing about," Rhodes said. The poet was researching First Nations history and found Scott's name repeatedly referenced. Rhodes felt "Scott's legacy as a civil servant overshadows his work as a pioneer of Canadian poetry", in the words of a CBC News report.

Anita Lahey, editor of Arc Poetry Magazine, responded with a statement that she thought Scott's actions as head of Indian Affairs were important to remember, but did not eclipse his role in the history of Canadian literature. "I think it matters that we're aware of it and that we think about and talk about these things," she said. "I don't think controversial or questionable activities in the life of any artist or writer is something that should necessarily discount the literary legacy that they leave behind."

Years of first publication link to corresponding "[year] in literature" articles (for prose) or "[year] in poetry" articles (for poetry):

• 1893: The Magic House and Other Poems Ottawa: Durie (London: Methuen, 1893; Boston: Copeland & Day, 1895)
• 1896: In the Village of Viger, sketches of French Canadian life; Boston: Copeland & Day
• 1898: Labor and the Angel, poems; Boston: Copeland & Day (1945 reissue,Ryerson; 1973 reissue, McClelland and Stewart ISBN 0-7710-9192-3)
• 1905: New World Lyrics and Ballads (Morang)
• 1905: John Graves Simcoe, biography, in the "Makers of Canada" series (Morang)
• 1906: Via Borealis, poems (Tyrell)
• 1916: Lundy's Lane and Other Poems, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart
• 1921: Beauty and Life, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart
• 1923: The Witching of Elspie: A Book of Stories, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (New York: Doran)
• 1926: The Poems of Duncan Campbell Scott, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart
• 1935: The Green Cloister: Later Poems, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart
• 1947: The Circle of Affection and Other Pieces in Prose and Verse, mostly prose; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart
• 1947: Walter J. Phillips (Ryerson)
• 1979: The Untitled Novel, written about 1905; posthumously published; (Penumbra) ISBN 0-920806-04-X