Guide
How Canadian Genealogy Research Works
Canada's historical records are far more open than its modern ones. Library and Archives Canada publishes free searchable censuses from 1825 through 1931, immigration passenger lists (1865 to 1922), naturalization files, and military service records, the backbone of Canadian family research.
The other half is provincial: after set waiting periods, birth, marriage, and death registrations transfer from vital statistics offices to provincial archives, where they open for research. Nova Scotia and Quebec (through BAnQ) are especially generous with free searchable historical registers. The resources below cover both the national collections and the provincial doors.
Guide
Official resources
Library and Archives Canada
- Census recordsFree name search of the censuses, 1825 to 1931
- Immigration recordsPassenger lists and other arrival records
- Border entries, 1908 to 1935Arrivals from the United States by land
- Citizenship and naturalization recordsNaturalization files and indexes
- Grosse Île quarantine station, 1832 to 1937Immigrants held at the Quebec quarantine station
- Land recordsWestern land grants and Upper and Lower Canada petitions
Provincial and city archives
- City of Edmonton ArchivesPhotographs and records of the City of Edmonton
- BC Archives genealogy searchHistorical BC births, marriages and deaths, Royal BC Museum
- Manitoba Vital Statistics genealogy searchHistorical Manitoba birth, marriage and death indexes
- Provincial Archives of New BrunswickThe provincial archives and its databases
- New Brunswick land grants, 1784 to 1997Index to provincial land grants
- New Brunswick marriage bonds, 1810 to 1932Index of marriage bonds held by the provincial archives
- New Brunswick cemeteriesCemetery database of the provincial archives
- New Brunswick old soldiers and widowsPension records of Revolutionary War soldiers and widows
- Newfoundland and Labrador vital statisticsBirth, marriage and death certificates
- Nova Scotia ArchivesProvincial archives of Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia historical vital statisticsFree search of historical births, marriages and deaths
- PEI Public Archives and Records OfficeSearch the Prince Edward Island archives
- BAnQ genealogyGenealogy help and records at the Quebec national archives