British Columbia Archives and Libraries

British Columbia Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Guided Research Research Strategies Record Finder
Record Types
Business and Commerce Cemeteries Census Church Records Civil Registration Court Records Directories Emigration & Immigration Compiled Genealogies Land & Property Military Records	Municipal Records Naturalization & Citizenship Newspapers Obituaries Occupations Online Records Periodicals Probate Records Schools and Education Records Taxation Vital Records Voter Records
British Columbia Background
Biographies Gazetteers History Language	Maps For Further Reading
Cultural Groups
Cultural Groups First Nations
Local Research Resources
Archives & Libraries Societies FamilySearch Centers

Canada

British Columbia

Archives and Libraries

• Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm.
• If you plan to visit a repository, contact them and ask for information about their collection, hours, services, and fees. Ask if they require you to have a reader’s ticket (a paper indicating you are a responsible researcher) to view the records, and ask how to obtain one.
• Although the records you need may be in an archive or library, the FamilySearch Library may have microfilmed and/or digitized copies of them.

Archives

British Columbia Archives
655 Belleville Street
Victoria, BC V8W 9W1
CANADA
Telephone: 250–387–1952
Fax: 250–387–2072
Searchable indexes to births, marriages & deaths

---

Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N3
CANADA
Telephone: 613–996–7458
Website
Genealogy and Family History

---

Hudson’s Bay Company Archives
Records of this fur trading company are some of Canada’s most important. Until 1870, the company controlled almost four-fifths of the territory of present-day Canada, including northern Quebec and Ontario and most of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Hudson’s Bay Company Archives (HBCA), home to the archival records of Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), is part of the Archives of Manitoba operating under The Archives and Recordkeeping Act and 1994 gift agreement between HBC and the Government of Manitoba. HBCA operations are supported in part through the ongoing financial support of the Hudson's Bay Company History Foundation.
A very helpful source is:

• Hudson's Bay Company Archives
  • Resources
  • Name Indexes
  • Biographical Sheets
• Finding Aid to the Hudson Bay Company Archives. FamilySearch Library. WorldCat.

---

City of Vancouver Archives
1150 Chestnut Street
Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9
CANADA
Website

---

City of Victoria Archives
#8 Centennial Square
Victoria, B.C.
Canada

Mailing Address
#1 Centennial Square
Victoria, B.C. V8W 1P6
Canada
Website

Libraries

Greater Victoria Public Library
794 Yates Street
Victoria, BC V8W 1L4
CANADA
Telephone: 250–382–7241
Website

---

Vancouver Public Library
350 W. Georgia St.
Vancouver, BC V6B 6B1
CANADA
Telephone: 604–331–3740 (newspapers, magazines)
Telephone: 604–331–3710 (history, government, genealogy)
Fax: 604–331–3744
Website

---

University of British Columbia
Koerner Library
1958 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
CANADA
Telephone: 250–387–1952
Fax: 604–822–9122
Website

---

Simon Fraser University
W.A.C. Bennett Library
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
CANADA
Telephone: 604–291–5735
Fax: 604–291–4908
Website

Museums

Royal BC Museum
675 Belleville Street
Victoria, BC V8W 9W2
Canada

Telephone: 1-250-356-7226
Toll-free: 1-888-447-7977
E-mail: reception@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
Website

Record Offices

Ordering Register Copies from the Vital Statistics Agency

British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency
PO Box 9657, Stn. Prov. Govt.
Victoria, BC
V8W 9P3
Telephone: (Victoria & Outside B.C.) 250 952-2681, (within B.C.) 1 888 876-1633

• Web page with ordering forms and information
• Application for Records