(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
Results 1 to 4 of 4
Thread: Canadian Resources Online
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28-01-2008, 8:12 PM #1Mary AnneGuest
Canadian Resources Online
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28-01-2008, 8:17 PM #2Mary AnneGuest
Canadian Resources Online...Part 2..British Columbia to Manitoba (and north)
Part 2...
British Columbia
Vital Statistics (index online; printed certificate can be ordered) https://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/genealogy/electronic_index.html
Genealogical and Historical Societies in British Columbia (a fairly complete listing of all of them) https://www.bcgs.ca/BC-gen-Hist-Society.htm
British Columbia Provincial Archives https://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/index.htm
Yukon
Vital Statistics (searches must be done from hard copy; records only from 1898). Contact [email protected]
Genealogical Society (doesn't have a website). Contact [email protected]
Yukon Territorial Archives https://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/75.html
"Yukon Genealogy", a compendium of genealogical, historical and archival resources available in the Yukon https://www.yukongenealogy.com/index.htm
Alberta
Vital Statistics (no online index; search and printed certificate can be ordered) https://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/766.cfm
Alberta Genealogical Society https://abgensoc.ca/
Alberta Family History Society https://www.afhs.ab.ca
Archives Society of Alberta: A gateway to a number of archives within the province of Alberta, including the provincial, the Glenbow and some city archives: https://www.archivesalberta.org/walls/index.htm
Canadian Pacific Railway Land Sales database (1881-1927 – includes lands sold in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as Alberta; searchable) https://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesCPRSearch.aspx
Saskatchewan
Vital Statistics (online index; certificates can be ordered) https://www.isc.ca/VitalStatistics/
Saskatchewan Genealogical Society https://www.saskgenealogy.com/
Saskatchewan Provincial Archives https://www.saskarchives.com/web/services-pub.html
Manitoba
Vital Statistics (online index; certificates can be ordered) https://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php
Manitoba Genealogical Society https://www.mbgenealogy.com/
Manitoba Historical Society www.mhs.mb.ca
Provincial Archives https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/fa...ory/index.html
MB Legislative Library (has lots of good genealogy stuff..and links) https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/leg-lib/genealogical.html
Hudson's Bay Company Archives https://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 https://pwnhc.learnnet.nt.ca/programs/archive.htm
Nunavut
Nunavut Vital Statistics -- these guys still really only have snail-mail for enquiries:
Nunavut Vital Statistics
Bag #3, Health and Social Services
Rankin Inlet, NU
X0C 0G0
Tel: (867) 645-5002
Fax: (867) 645-2997
Nunavut Terrritorial Archives -- no website, but the address is
Nunavut Archives
P.O. Box 310
Igloolik, Nunavut X0A 0L0
Tel: (867) 934-8626
[email protected])
And on to Part 3...
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28-01-2008, 8:20 PM #3Mary AnneGuest
Canadian Resources Online...Part 3...Ontario, Québec and Atlantic
Part 3...
Ontario
Ontario Vital Statistics -- these guys seem to have split things up:
https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/englis...e-records.aspx
and https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/englis...an/vsmain.aspx
Ontario Genealogical Society (umbrella society - has 30 branches in the different counties of Ontario) https://www.ogs.on.ca
British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa https://www.bifhsgo.ca. Has a major database on British Home Children who were sent to Canada by Middlemore Homes https://www.bifhsgo.ca/home_children_index.htm
Ontario Historical Society https://www.ontariohistoricalsociety.ca/welcome.asp
Archives of Ontario https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/index.aspx
County Atlas Digitization Project (43 atlases for counties in Ontario, 1874-1881, showing township maps as well as property of residents – searchable by name)
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/
Detailed map of Ontario towns and counties for genealogical research https://www.westol.com/~beaurega/map.htm
Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid (searchable database of memorial inscriptions) https://www.islandnet.com/ocfa/
Québec
Vital Statistics (no online index; records since 1900; certificates can be ordered) https://www.etatcivil.gouv.qc.ca/en/default.html
Federation of Genealogical Societies of Québec (in French) https://www.federationgenealogie.qc.ca/
Federation of the Founding Families of Québec (in French) https://www.ffsq.qc.ca/
Quebec Family History Society https://www.qfhs.ca
Eastern Townships Research (many immigrants to Canada from Britain came to the Eastern Townships of Québec) https://www.rootsweb.com/~qceastwn/
Eastern Townships Heritage Webmagazine
https://www.townshipsheritage.com/home.html
Québec Provincial Archives https://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/gene...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
https://recherche-c.voicimafamille.in....jsp?locale=en
Detailed map of Québec towns and counties for genealogical research https://www.westol.com/~beaurega/map.htm
New Brunswick
Vital Statistics (online index; certificates can be ordered) https://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/GovRecs/VISSE/?L=EN
New Brunswick Genealogical Society https://www.nbgs.ca/
New Brunswick Provincial Archives https://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/Default.aspx?L=EN
Nova Scotia
Vital Statistics (no online index; certificates can be ordered) https://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/access/vi.../genealogy.asp
Nova Scotia Genealogical Network Association https://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/
Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society https://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/rnshs/
Nova Scotia Provincial Archives https://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/
Nova Scotia Heritage Website https://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 https://www.islandregister.com/
Prince Edward Island Provincial Archives https://www.edu.pe.ca/paro/
Newfoundland and Labrador
Vital Statistics (no online index; certificates can be ordered) https://www.gs.gov.nl.ca/gs/vs/birth-cert.stm
Genealogical and Historical societies https://www.fhsnl.ca/
https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/
Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Archives https://www.therooms.ca/archives/
And on to Part 4...
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28-01-2008, 8:21 PM #4Mary AnneGuest
Canadian Resources Online...Part 4... Canada-wide
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) https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/g...y/index-e.html
Canada's local histories online https://www.ourroots.ca/e/
"Cyndi's List" (lots of good Canadian links) https://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") https://www.automatedgenealogy.com
Cemeteries in Canada https://www.findagrave.com/ and https://www.interment.net/can/
Newspapers https://www.paperofrecord.com
"CanGenealogy" (a compendium of links to genealogical resources in Canada) https://www.cangenealogy.com/
"Canadian Genealogy and History Links" (another compendium – it has a section for each province) https://www.islandnet.com/~jveinot/cghl/cghl.html
"Canada GenWeb" (another compendium – also there are GenWebs for each province) https://www.rootsweb.com/~canwgw/
"Canadian Genealogy Records Online" (links to online databases) https://www.genealogysearch.org/canada/
And, finally a registry of various transcription projects being undertaken by various Canadian genealogical societies and other groups https://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)
Helping you trace your British Family History & British Genealogy.
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