Canada by Kimberly Powell
A large amount of genealogical and historical data for Canada is already available online, with more being added all the time. Most records are maintained at the province level, so you will need to have an idea of what part of Canada your ancestors came from before embarking on your research.
Where can I find Canadian records of birth, marriage, and death?
Civil registration of vital statistics in Canada is a provincial responsibility; available records and access will vary by province. Some archives and vital statistic offices, such as the British Columbia Archives, offer online indexes to historical birth, marriage, and death registrations. Others only provide information on how to order a certificate via mail. Try a search such as canada vital records or alberta vital records or ontario marriages to learn what's available in your area of interest.
Billing itself as a “gateway to Canadian genealogy,” the CanadaGen-Web Project (www.rootsweb.com/~canwgw) is available in English and French with queries, lookups, and a FAQ. Besides links to province-specific resources, you'll discover a timeline of Canadian history, facts about famous Canadians, a cemetery transcription project, and a special website just for kids.
The Canadian Genealogy Centre (www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/index-e.html) of Library and Archives Canada has posted numerous (and free) online databases that are useful for anyone researching Canadian roots. Select Search for Ancestors to find the 1851, 1901, and 1911 censuses of Canada; a variety of immigration records and passenger lists; naturalization records; land grants; and early marriage bonds for Upper and Lower Canada.
If you are having trouble locating your ancestor in the Canadian census images on the Library and Archives Canada site, head on over to Automated Genealogy (www.automatedgenealogy.com). Several genealogy projects are under development at this free, volunteer-supported website, including indexes of the 1901, 1906, and 1911 censuses of Canada.
A free twenty-four-page guide entitled “Tracing Your Ancestors in Canada” is available for download in PDF format (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-607.001-e.html) from Library and Archives Canada. This guide describes the primary sources of genealogical information available in Library and Archives Canada as well as an overview of information in other Canadian centers.
A growing collection of Canadian family history records is available for free online access at FamilySearch.org. Select “All Collections” from the main page at FamilySearch.org and then narrow by location to Canada to view available records such as the 1851, 1871, and 1891 census indexes, plus index and images for the 1881 Canadian census. FamilySearch also has 1861 census returns for Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island, plus a large number of vital records, both national and provincial.
The largest collection of Canadian family history records available online can be found on the subscription site Ancestry.ca (www.ancestry.ca). The fully searchable databases include indexes and images for the 1851 through 1916 censuses of Canada, along with Canadian immigrant records and vital records from most provinces. Other interesting Canadian collections include the Canada Militia and Defence Forces Lists, 1863–1939, plus the historic Drouin collection, with more than 37 million baptism, marriage, and burial records. This is a companion site to the U.S.-based Ancestry.com and includes the same records, although a Canada Deluxe membership that only includes Canadian records is available exclusively on Ancestry.ca.
Find information on more than 116,000 Canadians and New found landers who fought and died while in service to Canada at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial (www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem). Information in this free database includes the individual's military service number, unit and division, date of birth, and burial information. It also often includes that individual's hometown and the names of spouse and parents.
Since many of Canada's records are created and maintained at the provincial level, you'll want to check the archives, libraries, and other repositories in the province where your ancestors lived. The site That's My Family (www.thatsmyfamily.info) helps make this easy, offering a free online search interface for multiple databases from various provinces. Canadian Genealogy and History Links (www.islandnet.com/~jveinot/cghl/archives.html) is an excellent resource for web links to provincial archives and libraries, as well as other resources for Canadian genealogy. You can also find a wealth of Canadian research guides and database links at Cyndi's List — Canada (www.cyndislist.com/canada.htm) and About.com Genealogy — Canada (http://genealogy.about.com/od/canada).
