Ontario Births - What else you can try
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This page will give you additional guidance and resources to find birth information for your ancestor. Use this page after first completing the birth section of the Ontario Guided Research page.
Additional Online Resources
Additional Databases and Online Resources
- 1760-1923: Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials at Ancestry ($)
- 1802-1967: Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection) at Ancestry ($)
- 1858-1913: Ontario, Canada Births at Ancestry ($)
- 1860-1920: Ontario Birth Index at Findmypast ($)
- 1869-1912: Ontario Births, 1869-1912 at MyHeritage ($)
- 1885-1980: Ontario, Canada, The Ottawa Journal (Birth, Marriage and Death Notices) at Ancestry ($)
Images Only (Browsable Images)
Some collections have not been indexed but are available to browse image by image.
- 1760-1923: Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records at FamilySearch Historical Records
Click the question mark for instructions for how to search Historical Records browsable images when there is no index. - 1854-1873: Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths, and coroners' returns, Ontario at FamilySearch Catalog
Click the question mark for instructions for how to search catalog browsable images when there is no index. - 1858-1930: Division registrar vital statistics records, 1858-1930 at FamilySearch Catalog Click the question mark for instructions for how to search catalog browsable images when there is no index.
- 1861-1907: Evidence for delayed registration of births, 1861-1907 at FamilySearch Catalog Click the question mark for instructions for how to search catalog browsable images when there is no index.
Substitute Records
Additional Records with Birth Information
Substitute records may contain information about more than one event and are used when records for an event are not available. Records that are used to substitute for birth events may not have been created at the time of the birth. The accuracy of the record is contingent upon when the information was recorded. Search for information in multiple substitute records to confirm the accuracy of these records.
| Use these substitute records to locate birth information about your ancestor: | ||
| Why to search the records | ||
| Death records may include the birthdate or age of the deceased. With the age, a birthdate can be approximated. Click on the link to the left to return to the "Death" page. | ||
| Ontario can be found in Canada censuses in 1842 and 1851-1921. Census records often give ages of the recorded individuals, allowing researchers to calculate birth years. | ||
| Gravestone inscriptions and cemetery records may include a birthdate. | ||
| Baptism records occasionally provide a birthdate. In addition, a death or burial record may include an age that can approximate a birthdate. To access church records, first determine the denomination. | ||
| In addition to obituaries, newspapers publish notices of marriages, divorces, deaths, and funerals. In recent years, birth notices have also been published providing the names of the parents and sex of the child. | ||
| Obituaries often include the birthdate and place of the deceased. | ||
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Improve Searching
Tips for finding births
Successfully finding birth records in online databases depends on a few key points. Try the following search suggestions:
- Spelling variations. Your ancestor's name may be misspelled. Search with spelling variations for the first and last name of your ancestor.
- Search parents. Search for the parents, if known, as the child's first name may not be on the birth record.
- Search given name. Search by given name (leave out the last name) with the approximate date of birth.
- Add information. For common names, add more information to narrow the search such as approximate birth date or parent's names if known.
- Date range. Expand the date range of the search by 5 years.
- Search province. Search using the province name only instead of by smaller locality.
Why the Record may not Exist
Known Record Gaps
Records Start
- 1869 Civil registration began. Before this, birth records mostly come from church records.