Canadian Resources

[Mary Anne]

(Sorry, folks, there are actually 4 Parts, making this Part 1 of 4...)


I just thought I would set down a listing, all in one place, of some online resources for folks who are researching relatives in Canada. Bo Peep has graciously agreed to put a "sticky" on this note, so that it will not get buried. This list is far from complete, of course, but I have also included some "compendium" Websites that may point to even more.

First, a word about history and historical records in Canada. In the early days of Canada (up until about 1860), settlement existed primarily in what was then Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Québec) and the so-called maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island). Settlement of the western or Prairie provinces (now known as Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) really did not start until after about 1860. Alberta and Saskatchewan did not become provinces until 1905; Manitoba and British Columbia had been established in 1870 and 1871, respectively. Newfoundland did not join confederation until 1949. The northern territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) are still sparsely settled and often do not have records before 1898 or so.

Generally speaking, until 1867, when Canada ceased to be a British colony, most records were collected and maintained by the federal government. This would include land records, military records, immigration and census records. During this early period, before civil registration started, vital statistics (birth, marriages, deaths) would have been collected and maintained by church and/or religious organizations.

Since civil registration started (earliest in 1837), provincial governments have been responsible for the collection and maintenance of vital statistics records (birth, marriages and deaths). Although it varies from province to province, these records are not generally made publicly available until after 90-100 years, when they may be handed over to the provincial archives. Provincial governments are also responsible for land titles records.

I have organized this list of sites by currently existing province/territory, from West to East, with a section for Canada-wide and federal government sources at the end. The information available at these sites is free - indeed, it is Canada's federal government's policy to do this (although this may not be the case with information held by provincial governments). I have not included here any "for profit" or "pay-per-view sites", although some of the same data listed here may be available through them.

So, see Parts 2, 3 and 4 for the "goods", and enjoy........


Mary Anne

[Mary Anne]

Part 2...

British Columbia

Vital Statistics (index online; printed certificate can be ordered) http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/genealogy/electronic_index.html

Genealogical and Historical Societies in British Columbia (a fairly complete listing of all of them) http://www.bcgs.ca/BC-gen-Hist-Society.htm

British Columbia Provincial Archives http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/index.htm

Yukon

Vital Statistics (searches must be done from hard copy; records only from 1898). Contact Vital.Statistics@gov.yk.ca

Genealogical Society (doesn't have a website). Contact tpoirier@klondiker.com

Yukon Territorial Archives http://www.btc.gov.yk.ca/archives/index.html

"Yukon Genealogy", a compendium of genealogical, historical and archival resources available in the Yukon http://www.yukongenealogy.com/index.htm

Alberta

Vital Statistics (no online index; search and printed certificate can be ordered) http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/vs/genealogy.cfm

Alberta Genealogical Society http://abgensoc.ca/

Alberta Family History Society http://www.afhs.ab.ca

Alberta Provincial Archives http://www.archivesalberta.org/walls/index.htm

Glenbow Museum in Calgary http://www.glenbow.org/

Canadian Pacific Railway Land Sales database (1881-1927 – includes lands sold in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as Alberta; searchable) http://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesCPRSearch.aspx

Saskatchewan

Vital Statistics (online index; certificates can be ordered) http://vsgs.health.gov.sk.ca/vsgs_srch.aspx

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society http://www.saskgenealogy.com/

Saskatchewan Provincial Archives http://www.saskarchives.com/web/services-pub-family.html

Manitoba

Vital Statistics (online index; certificates can be ordered) http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php

Manitoba Genealogical Society http://www.mbgenealogy.com/

Manitoba Historical Society www.mhs.mb.ca

Provincial Archives http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/genealogy/gen_text/q_faq.html

MB Legislative Library (has lots of good genealogy stuff..and links) http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/leg-lib/genealogical.html

Hudson's Bay Company Archives http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/index.html

Northwest Territories

Vital Statistics (apparently there is nothing online, but you can write or phone for records after 1925 to:
Registrar General
Vital Statistics
Department of Health & Social Services
Government of the Northwest Territories
Inuvik, NT X0E 0T0
1-800-661-0830 (toll free)
(867) 777-7420)

Northwest Territories Genealogical Society (doesn't seem to be online, but the address is P.O. Box 1715, Yellowknife X1A 2P3

Northwest Territorial Archives http://pwnhc.learnnet.nt.ca/programs/archive.htm

Nunavut

Vital Statistics (nothing online; for events since 1896) http://hss.gov.yk.ca/programs/vitalstats/

Nunavut Terrritorial Archives (no website, but the address is
Nunavut Archives
P.O. Box 310
Igloolik, Nunavut X0A 0L0
Tel: (867) 934-8626
eatkinson@gov.nu.ca)

And on to Part 3...

[Mary Anne]

Part 3...

Ontario

Vital Statistics (no online indexes; microfilms can be borrowed on interlibrary loan; certificates can be ordered) http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/interloan/vsmain.htm

Ontario Genealogical Society (umbrella society - has 30 branches in the different counties of Ontario) http://www.ogs.on.ca

British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa http://www.bifhsgo.ca. Has a major database on British Home Children who were sent to Canada by Middlemore Homes http://www.bifhsgo.ca/home_children_index.htm

Ontario Historical Society http://www.ontariohistoricalsociety.ca/welcome.asp

Archives of Ontario http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/geneal/index.html

County Atlas Digitization Project (43 atlases for counties in Ontario, 1874-1881, showing township maps as well as property of residents – searchable by name)
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/

Detailed map of Ontario towns and counties for genealogical research http://www.westol.com/~beaurega/map.htm

Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid (searchable database of memorial inscriptions) http://www.islandnet.com/ocfa/

Québec

Vital Statistics (no online index; records since 1900; certificates can be ordered) http://www.etatcivil.gouv.qc.ca/en/default.html

Federation of Genealogical Societies of Québec (in French) http://www.federationgenealogie.qc.ca/

Federation of the Founding Families of Québec (in French) http://www.ffsq.qc.ca/

Quebec Family History Society http://www.qfhs.ca

Eastern Townships Research (many immigrants to Canada from Britain came to the Eastern Townships of Québec) http://www.rootsweb.com/~qceastwn/

Eastern Townships Heritage Webmagazine
http://www.townshipsheritage.com/home.html

Québec Provincial Archives http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/genealogie/genealogie.jsp

One of the best online resources for Québec information is a site called "That's My Family", the so-called federated search engine residing at the Library and Archives of Québec. Births/Marriages/Deaths (before 1900), cemeteries, court documents and a variety of other Québec resources can be searched here
http://recherche-c.voicimafamille.info/ecis.jsp?locale=en

Detailed map of Québec towns and counties for genealogical research http://www.westol.com/~beaurega/map.htm

New Brunswick

Vital Statistics (online index; certificates can be ordered) http://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/GovRecs/VISSE/?L=EN

New Brunswick Genealogical Society http://www.nbgs.ca/

New Brunswick Provincial Archives http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx?L=EN

Nova Scotia

Vital Statistics (no online index; certificates can be ordered) http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/vstat/history.asp

Nova Scotia Genealogical Network Association http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/

Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/rnshs/

Nova Scotia Provincial Archives http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/

Nova Scotia Heritage Website http://novascotiaheritage.ca/en/home/default.aspx

Prince Edward Island

Vital Statistics (no online index; certificates can be ordered) www.gov.pe.ca/vitalstatistics/

Genealogical and Historical societies http://www.islandregister.com/

Prince Edward Island Provincial Archives http://www.edu.pe.ca/paro/

Newfoundland and Labrador

Vital Statistics (no online index; certificates can be ordered) http://www.gs.gov.nl.ca/gs/vs/birth-cert.stm

Genealogical and Historical societies http://www.fhsnl.ca/

Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Archives http://www.therooms.ca/archives/


And on to Part 4...

[Mary Anne]

Part 4...

Canada-wide

Library and Archives Canada – the Canadian Genealogy Centre (lots of great searchable databases relating to genealogy, and more being added all the time – passenger lists, military records, Western Land Grants (1870-1930), census, immigration records, etc. ..covers only information sources that are under the purview of the federal government, and NOT Births/Marriages/Deaths, which are under provincial jurisdiction) http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html

Canada's local histories online http://www.ourroots.ca/e/

"Cyndi's List" (lots of good Canadian links) http://www.cyndislist.com

"Automated Genealogy" (a searchable database for the Canadian censuses 1851-1911, with links to scans of actual census pages – see scousecan's excellent description of what is available in post 19 January 2008 post entitled "Tips regarding Collections Canada") http://www.automatedgenealgy.com

Cemeteries in Canada http://www.findagrave.com/ and http://www.interment.net/can/

Newspapers http://www.paperofrecord.com

"CanGenealogy" (a compendium of links to genealogical resources in Canada) http://www.cangenealogy.com/

"Canadian Genealogy" (another compendium) http://www.canadiangenealogy.net/index.htm

"Canadian Genealogy and History Links" (another compendium – it has a section for each province) http://www.islandnet.com/~jveinot/cghl/cghl.html

"Canada GenWeb" (another compendium – also there are GenWebs for each province) http://www.rootsweb.com/~canwgw/

"Canadian Genealogy Records Online" (links to online databases) http://www.genealogysearch.org/canada/

And, finally a registry of various transcription projects being undertaken by various Canadian genealogical societies and other groups http://www.afhs.ab.ca/registry/

End of Part 4 of 4.




Good Hunting!!! Thanks to Bo Peep for making this a sticky!

Mary Anne
(in chilly Ottawa)